No One Comes Close
by Gunner Palace
Summary: Three months before Ichigo might have met Xcution, he's offered a second chance by a vastly more powerful group: the supernatural activities division of US Special Operations Command. But what's the Pentagon's agenda for the Shinigami daikō, let alone Soul Society? And how will it shape his reunion and relations with Rukia? Quasi-canon-following IchiRuki story. Currently on hiatus.
1. 1-01: The Eagle Has Landed

**A/N: Hello! This is my first time writing fan fiction so I would just like to say thank you in advance to anyone who chooses to review this. The first four chapters were all written at the same time to get the story moving.**

 **As I write this as of 2-20, if you're bothered by OCs like Alan, know that the emphasis on his interactions with Ichigo declines after 1-04 and is mostly to set the stage; he himself leaves the narrative at 1-10. I'll be trying to use them sparingly and to keep the focus on the cast we know. Rukia enters at 1-05, and 1-07 is probably the most representative early chapter of the tone of the rest of the work overall so far.**

 _ **Bleach**_ **and all products thereof are copyright to Tite Kubo, et al.** **This was influenced by** _ **Stargate SG-1**_ **,** _ **The X-Files**_ **,** _ **Welcome to Night Vale**_ **,** _ **Men In Black**_ **,** _ **The Cabin in the Woods**_ **, and many other sources, but was not directly based upon any of them in terms of content.**

* * *

" _The situation on Gehenna doesn't look good."_

" _Nothing on Gehenna_ ever _looks good."_

" _The Committee is refusing to consider additional funding to deal with it, with everything else that's going on."_

" _They should know by now this isn't something you can Charlie Wilson your way out of."_

" _Evidently you've convinced them you're fully capable of doing more with less."_

" _...I guess we'll just have to go headhunting."_

" _Do you have someone in mind?"_

" _...As a matter of fact, I do. Send Hayward to Yokota and tell him to go to Karakura. He'll know what to do."_

* * *

 **Monday, February 10, 2003**

A sudden proclamation of "Hello and welcome! Cheap! Fast! Safe! We'll do anything! That's Unagiya!" made Ichigo Kurosaki return to find himself slouched on a black imitation-leather couch, half-conscious from boredom. He'd had a long day at school and not a single job had come in during the hour he'd been at the shop. He pinched the bridge of his nose to try and focus as Ikumi Unagiya, his boss, prattled aggressively with whatever prospective customer was calling. He was irritated at the limbo he occupied: he neither cared what Ikumi was saying, nor could he remember what he had just been day-dreaming about.

The latter hit him first, not in its actual substance but in an allegory of losing it: a sudden, hellishly intense recollection of a _senkaimon'_ s _shōji_ door closing off Rukia Kuchiki's face. He didn't notice his hands involuntarily clenching into fists.

It was the 434th day since he had seen Rukia. He didn't even deliberately keep track of the number, he just knew it. A month before that had seen the defeat of Aizen—he could track that exactly too but had stopped caring to afford it that level of precision. It didn't matter in comparison. He slowly relaxed his fingers after he realized his nails were threatening to penetrate the skin of his palms. His mind shifted to replaying her fading away for the last time, and that terrible look in her eyes. He didn't notice Ikumi putting down the phone and staring at him.

"Oi," she suddenly yelled, as if sensing something ailed him "Ichigo- _chan_ , are you going to get any _honmei-choco_ this Valentine's Day or are you stuck with _giri-choco_ like usual?!"

"What the hell kind of question is that, as if it's any of your business!?" Ichigo yelled in response, suddenly shaken from his visions.

"I keep telling you to call me Ikumi- _san_ and not 'you', Ichigo- _chan_ , you idiot!" she huffed, before raising a finger in the air and issuing a matronly declaration "You won't get anything this year from anyone with that attitude."

"Like I want anything!" he hollered in exasperation.

Her eyes slid over to him and then a motherly smile broke out across her face "We both know you like chocolate," she said with a sweetness usually reserved for her son.

Ichigo was left with a twitching eyebrow at the act and nothing left to say, which was precisely what Ikumi had hoped for: it was in her estimation better that he be angry at the now than sad at the past, even if she didn't know what was always bothering her teenage employee. She would've kept up the assault, but the simple truth was she didn't actually know any of his classmates or much about his relations with them and had no good ammunition to use against him.

"So was that about a job or what?" he asked, trying to redirect the conversation.

"A customer wanted to schedule for her dog to be walked this weekend," replied Ikumi.

"Great," muttered Ichigo, slumping back into the couch. He was about to let himself get absorbed in his own thoughts again when he heard the door handle. They both looked up as the shop door opened and a figure stepped in from the sun's golden glare. Ichigo's gaze swept up the person. It was a man wearing mirror-finished black dress shoes, an uncannily black three-button business suit of an ultramodern cut, silver cufflinks, a white pocket square, white dress shirt, and black tie in a either a Pratt or Windsor knot. A pair of dark black shades sat upon the man's face, their lenses rectangular with the corners cut down at interesting angles. It was completely out of season given the average temperature outside all day had been around 10 degrees Celsius. Ichigo stopped for a moment, struck by this context and the sharp starkness of the man's ensemble, the effect and color palette almost reminding him of—no. He immediately put it out of his mind.

He was taller than Ichigo by half a head, maybe 186 to 188cm tall, and it was clear from how he filled out the getup that he was exceedingly fit. The way he carried himself conveyed an edgy awareness just beneath a sense of languid self-assuredness: a man who clearly could be extremely intimidating but felt absolutely no need for it at present. He didn't seem bothered by the weather in the slightest. He had a modest tan despite the winter, but any considered study of his face quickly revealed he was not Japanese.

He was possessed of a strong jaw, moderate chin, modest cheeks, thin lips, and moderately narrow nose. His hair was almost black, kept somewhere between a crew cut and a faux-hawk, and he had the barest shade of stubble. His age was difficult to estimate, but he seemed to be in his late-30s, though he could've easily been older as he seemed to take care of his appearance. Ichigo could only peg his ancestry as some kind of European and could likewise only guess at his eye-color, for he made no move to take off the shades, instead just flashing them a winsome smile of flawless white teeth. Ichigo had seen enough Hollywood movies to immediately conclude _He looks like some kind of movie-star_ , only belatedly realizing his mouth was ajar.

"C—Can I help you?" Ikumi asked. The usual belligerence in her voice was totally absent. Ichigo turned his eyes to her, seeing a similar expression on her face as he felt on his. They were both thinking the same thing: _Why would somebody like this be in Unagiya Shop_?

The man replied in completely flawless Kantō dialect Japanese with a certain rich baritone: "Hello! This is the 'We'll do anything' Unagiya Shop, correct?" His general gaze surely took in Ikumi's shirt and he had to have passed the sign outside bearing the name. It must've been rhetorical, but perhaps that was the point, as both Ichigo and Ikumi were stunned into openly gaping. The man continued in spite of their appearances, "I've recently moved here to Karakura and would like to hire your services to conduct some outdoor maintenance of my new house."

Ikumi and Ichigo exchanged a look which allowed not one but a thousand questions to flow between them. "Ah, and you are…?" Ikumi offered.

"I can pay in advance," the man replied, as if he hadn't heard her question at all.

"Our rate is ¥800 an hour," Ikumi replied with a sudden lack of hesitation.

The man shrugged slightly, removed a wallet from his right-hand pants pocket, and pulled out a single crisp ¥2,000 note, walking up to her with it while putting the wallet back away. She snatched it away from him immediately. "Ichigo- _chan_ , two-and-a-half hours, chop-chop!" she proclaimed.

Ichigo found himself just as stunned at her reversal in attitude and protested "You want me to go outside and do yard-work or something in this weather just like that?!" Ikumi just glared at him in response. After a few seconds of the withering look he sighed and slowly got up, grumbling below his breath, and put on the jacket he'd been sitting on, heading toward the door.

"I live within a short walking distance from here," the man in the suit offered with what felt like excess cheer, moving to follow him out the door.

"Yeah, yeah, let's go," Ichigo said, heading outside.

* * *

They had been walking along a series of streets and alleys toward where the man said he'd bought a house in silence for about five minutes. According to his directions it wasn't much farther. Ichigo finally decided to break the ice: "So…why did you move here?"

"I liked the location," the man said, as if that explained everything.

Ichigo couldn't shake the feeling that something was simply off about the guy. Everything about him was wrong somehow. It didn't fit. "Well…uh, what's your name?"

The man smirked, and in what sounded to Ichigo's ears like a generic American accent but retained the same baritone, said "Alan is fine for now."

Ichigo frowned and raised an eyebrow before venturing "Hello, Alan," in English.

"Not bad!" Alan replied, once more in Japanese.

The exchange left Ichigo feeling even more out of his depth and they continued on in silence for another minute. This whole episode had been surreal. Still, there was nothing for it. At last Ichigo half-turned to Alan and asked "So…what kind of 'outdoor maintenance' did you have in mind?"

The same smirk as before danced across Alan's lips more severely this time, revealing those unnaturally white teeth. Something about their gleam made the waning sunlight suddenly lose what little warmth it had, like a switch had been flipped. Alan abruptly stopped and turned toward Ichigo. "Didn't you ever think it was weird that it seemed like everybody in the Soul Society was Japanese? Odd hair and eye colors aside, did you ever meet anyone from anywhere else?" he asked casually.

Ichigo's blood instantly ran cold as he froze in place. "...W—What did you ju—"

Alan ignored him completely. "Didn't you ever think it was weird the afterlife for all of humanity would resemble feudal Japan? Do you really think Westerners, even dead ones, would tolerate that kind of system?"

The color seemed to drain from the world. Ichigo found his voice caught in his throat "—What—"

The man's smirk turned into a grin. "Didn't you ever think it was weird Zero Division wasn't tasked with eliminating Sōsuke Aizen? Yamamoto- _sōtaichō_ is a militarily incompetent, senile, brutish war criminal, but is he really that stupid?"

"—Who—" Ichigo sputtered out. It seemed like the world was drawing in on just the two of them. He took a step back. He couldn't perceive _reiatsu_ and hadn't been able to do so since he lost his powers, but he was reminded of nothing so much as the first several times he had met the _taichō_ of Soul Society. Through body-language and force of personality alone he felt like this guy, Alan, was crushing him.

Alan's grin remained restrained but had hints of something maniacal and predatory, something oddly familiar. "Didn't you ever think it was weird everybody had to rely on a teenager to save the world? Say, for that matter, if Urahara- _san_ knew what was up the whole time, why didn't he send the Visored with you on the first trip to Soul Society itself?"

Something within Ichigo's mind unlocked as if a key had just been turned. "—Who are you?!" he demanded, his voice ragged as he brought his fists up into a combative stance. His eyes had gone hard and there was a dangerous look in them. _It's a nightmare_ , he found himself thinking. _It's got to be another nightmare_.

Alan let out a soft " _Heh_ ," and crossed his arms over his chest, winding his grin down to a smirk again, "I guess not. I bet you even thought _her_ and all the rest really were actually professional soldiers..."

Ichigo's instincts howled a warning of danger, particular at the emphasis on the word "her." He let out a yell of "Who the hell are you?!" and rushed the man, suddenly intent on beating the answer out of him.

Alan blocked the first few punches with seeming boredom before grabbing one of Ichigo's wrists in a vice-like grip with blinding speed. Ichigo was stunned as he hadn't been able to track it. In the next instant it had been wrenched around his back and his own momentum was being used to shove him face first up against a wall on one side of the alleyway.

Ichigo struggled only to receive a warning pull on his arm, an implicit threat of dislocation or worse. That itself was one thing, but it was the voice that followed that made him stop. It was completely different from the voice Alan had used so far, as cold as a grave. "Ichigo Kurosaki,"Alan began, "blood type A, D.O.B. July 15, 1985, son of Masaki Kurosaki, and Isshin," there was the slightest of pauses, Ichigo himself not noticing it under the circumstances, "Kurosaki."

He continued: "You have two sisters, Karin and Yuzu. Your mother died on June 17, 1996. Your longest standing friend is Tatsuki Arisawa. Your favorite food is _karashi mentaiko_ , you have a weakness for chocolate, your favorite actor is Al Pacino, your favorite musician is Mike Ness of Social Distortion, and you actually like reading William Shakespeare." He gave Ichigo's arm another warning pull that elicited a grunt from the teenager before releasing it, moving back to the center of the alley.

Ichigo whipped around to face the man, who was now holding his hands up in what would ordinarily be a conciliatory fashion with a what-can-you-do smile. From him it radiated subtle menace. Ichigo glowered, but two things kept him in check for the moment: first, the pain in his shoulder and cheek was real enough to confirm it wasn't a nightmare and any consequences would be real enough; second, the man had him at an extreme disadvantage both physically and contextually. They stared one another down for a small eternity before the young man spat "If you're not gonna tell me who you are, then tell me what you want."

Alan appeared to consider this theatrically for a moment before looking square at him, that smirk back on his face, and his odd wry tone back in force: "It really kills you to have to rely on everyone else again, doesn't it? Especially when there are so many more people you think you have to protect."

Ichigo felt his expression darken, but said nothing in response.

Alan pointed at him, finger wagging a bit as he spoke. "Your family, your friends…even all these strangers, you want to protect them all, don't you? You know what's lurking just beyond your vision and you can't do anything at all about it. You can feel it, can't you, your soul dying a little bit every single day?"

Ichigo felt whatever had prompted him to attack the man telling him to do it again and mentally clamped down on it.

"And the worst part is that _they_ let it happen, isn't it? You put everything on the line for Soul Society, _everything_ , and they repaid you like this. They thought you had earned living a normal life again and would want nothing more, and so they gave it to you. As if anything could ever be normal again. And yet you've been trying to convince yourself it was true to save your sanity, haven't you?"

Ichigo gritted his teeth and watched as the man reached up and slowly took off his shades, palming them. Alan's eyes were closed as if in thought and it was a moment before he opened them to look at Ichigo directly. They were a brilliant azure, and they regarded him with what looked like a mixture of pity, disgust, sympathy, camaraderie, and indifference. It was if the man could feel any one of the things in an instant, and so was feeling them all at the same time. Ichigo didn't know what to say.

"They're so bad at morale and psychology," Alan continued, in some nebulous mixture of sardonic irony and disdain. Something in his eyes flashed harder than diamonds and a frost fell over his tone, "But it wouldn't be the first time they misjudged. They let _her_ grapple with the death of Kaien- _fukutaichō_ for over 20 years even as everyone around her saw what it did to _her_."

Ichigo's eyes widened as he finally caught on to the man's insistence on referring to what was very obviously Rukia as just "her" when he had no issue revealing he knew everyone else's names. What was the purpose? Did he know her?

"Now you're really starting to wonder. I can see it on your face. Good," Alan said. "No, I don't know _her_ at all. We've never met. So why, you ask? Two reasons, first…" the man trailed off and smiled at Ichigo with an unnerving knowingness, "it gets your attention. Second, I can't stand to see true loyalty returned with contempt and disregard in the name of tradition, custom, or honor. They owe _her_. They owe you. They owe a lot of people. Yet here you are, wallowing in self-pity, letting them believe they did right by you, by _her_ , letting them go on with the charade. Do you think you're fooling anybody? Do you think everyone can't see what's happening to you? Do you really think your family and friends have bought it for even a single second?"

Ichigo felt that crushing sensation again as Alan's eyes went from a cold hardness to an incendiary glare. The man was smiling, and that edge of madness was back on his face. Ichigo realized then where he had seen it before: it reminded him of the seated officers of the 11th Division.

"You can't stop it, Ichigo, no matter how far you run, no matter how hard you hide, no matter how fervently you deny: you're not haunted by what you endured—you miss it," Alan said, his conviction absolute. He stared Ichigo down for what, from the teen's perspective, could've been the blink of an eye or a thousand years, until the teen noticed an odd glimmer in the man's eye. His voice suddenly had all the sincerity in the world in it: "Do you want to see _her_ again?"

Ichigo felt his own eyes go wide before he managed to draw them back down to narrowed slits. The change in the older man's tone was striking, but it wasn't enough for him. He felt something like the fire he saw in Alan's eyes rise within him and asked "Who?"

"You know exactly who I mean, Ichigo," replied Alan, something that sounded like pity creeping into his tone.

"Say her name," Ichigo said. It wasn't a request.

Alan's smile seemed to increase. "Rukia Kuchiki is of all the people that exist in this world or any other the person you can least protect right now," Alan said, gaze unwavering and his voice a mixture of both blazing conviction and frigid fact, "So, one more time: do you want to see Rukia again?"

In that instant Ichigo knew that his questions, of which he had many, didn't matter. He didn't have to reflect on all the times like this he had endured before. He simply knew the answer. "Yes!" he snapped, without a moment's hesitation and a conviction to match the other man's.

Alan stared at Ichigo for some unknown time afterwards, complete silence between them. At last he put his sunglasses back on and reached inside his suit jacket. In a single smooth motion he withdrew and flicked something at Ichigo, who caught it easily. It was a business card. "Call me when you're free tomorrow," Alan said nonchalantly, as if nothing had just happened. He then began walking back down the alley from the way they had came.

Ichigo watched the man go and tracked him all the way until he turned out of sight before looking down at the business card. In the upper left corner was a logo of an angular winged star, and to its right it read:

US Air Force  
353rd Special Operations Group  
Lt. Col. Alan V. Hayward

An address at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa followed, along with a work and cell phone number. On the back was written a different number—a local one. The sun had completely gone down by the time Ichigo stopped just staring at it.

* * *

"Ah, Ichigo- _chan_ , back already?" asked Ikumi, glancing up. He had returned at around the two-hour mark.

Ichigo didn't look at her, but instead went straight for the couch to grab his bag.

"Hey, so, what exactly did that guy need anyway?" she continued, narrowing her eyes.

"Rain gutters cleaned," Ichigo said without intonation, then: "I won't be here tomorrow, gotta study for a test." He was already maneuvering for the door.

"You better be back for the rest of the week!" she warned.

"Yeah, we'll see," he said, and walked out without another word. Ikumi stared at the door for some time in his absence. None of his clothes had been any dirtier despite the scuff on his cheek.

* * *

"Report," the voice on the other end said.

"He'll achieve initial operational capability in three days," Alan said. They spoke in English.

"You should be able to do it instantly." There was a note of irritation in the voice at the other end that wasn't lost on him.

"I don't take orders from you. I'm the one who built up his case file, and I was sent here with the understanding I would be doing it my way, I'm doing it my way, and in this case my way is going to take three days. He's not even of military age. He'll be ready soon enough, and if that isn't good enough for the Colonel or General they can send somebody else. Do I make myself perfectly clear?" Alan said coldly.

"Crystal," the voice replied, "I'll convey your time table to them." The call was ended from the other side. Alan flipped the cell phone closed and put it away before returning to considering a stack of restaurant and café brochures. It was proving hard to find a place in Karakura that served good coffee.

* * *

 **A/N: Just a few things for clarity's sake at the start:**

 **I'm taking the Bleach Wikia timeline for granted because it seems relatively accurate.**

 **I was unable to find an average minimum wage for 2003, but as of 2008 it was somewhat above ¥600 an hour. I figure Ikumi charges somewhat more to cover overhead.**

 **I've opted to use Japanese terms for most concepts, organizations, and places in Japan, as well as honorifics, for flavor. Certain things that can be exactly translated will be, as might things that are unfamiliar to _Bleach_ itself. In the last resort, I figure you can always use Google. Let me know if this is annoying.**

 **In the narrative, names will be written in Western order, although should there ever be a case where Japanese names are given in full in dialogue, they'll be in the reverse order.**

 **Alan Hayward isn't based on any one person in particular. He deliberately gives Japanese names in the wrong order; this is mentioned in the next chapter, but I figured I'd mention it here too. If he had theme music it would be "Made in Heaven" by Kota Hoshino.**


	2. 1-02: Offer He Can't Refuse

**A/N: Hello! This is my first time writing fan fiction so I would just like to say thank you in advance to anyone who chooses to review this. The first four chapters were all written at the same time to get the story moving.**

 ** _Bleach_ and all products thereof are copyright to Tite Kubo, et al.**

* * *

 **Tuesday, February 11, 2003**

Ichigo walked along a sidewalk in what counted as Karakura's downtown (in as much as anything did in proximity to Tokyo) toward the café he'd agreed to meet Alan at. He'd called the man during lunch and agreed to meet him immediately after school. It was another chilly afternoon and what few people he passed were bundled up in winter gear. There was little to any great evidence of it being National Foundation Day. Ichigo cared about neither. He found himself instead realizing he was very close to the place where he'd first seen a Hollow…and Rukia, and that steeled his resolve to hurry on.

He pushed such thoughts from his mind with consternation as he found the café in question. It was decently upscale—not the kind of place he really went to—and quite lively, the weather seemingly having compelled people to seek warm drinks and socialization indoors. Upon entry he was struck both by the warmth, the appealing smells, and by the degree of chatter going on. It wasn't really loud, but loud enough to conceal the particulars of any one given conversation handily. He didn't miss the fact that it was the perfect public place in which to not be noticed. Looking around he quickly spotted Alan. The man was situated at a table next to one of the café's windows, drinking what appeared to be coffee.

His appearance was completely different from the previous day. He had on relatively non-descript clothes: a long-sleeved black shirt, khaki slacks, and a dark blue jumper. He blended in well and had apparently been there long enough that no one was paying the foreigner any mind, if anyone ever had to begin with. Ichigo went to the counter and ordered a cup of tea, waiting for it before adopting a hard expression and walking over to Alan's table. He put his tea on it and sat down opposite him, looking out the window. Neither said anything to the other for some time. "So, what am I supposed to call you, Alan Hayward?" Ichigo asked at last, glancing at him.

"Ordinarily it would be Hayward- _sama_ , Hayward- _senpai_ , or Hayward- _sensei_ to you, but we both know you're not big on authority," Alan replied. His expression had a certain wryness to it; he was noting the fact without really caring about it. "You can stick with Alan, or you can call me," Alan paused as if considering, "Hayward- _san_ , Hayward- _chūsa_ , or just _chūsa_." He added, matter-of-factly, "If you call me 'Al', I'll break your nose."

Ichigo neither said nor emoted anything in response but decided to just stick with calling him Alan. He did take note of the fact the man had no problems being addressed by his rank rather than an honorific, but wasn't fully sure what it meant, although it reminded him of the more laid back _taichō_ of the Gotei 13.

"And what do you want me to call you, Ichigo Kurosaki?" asked Alan. His tone was plain.

"You know, despite how good you are at our language, the way you keep saying names in Western order is weird," said Ichigo.

"Consider it an eccentricity," Alan said, smiling cryptically.

Ichigo pursed his lips somewhat before shrugging and giving a snide smirk, "Since we're on a first-name basis already I guess you can just call me Ichigo." Ichigo usually cared little for appearances but the illusion that they were equals when the man continued to have him at such a disadvantage suited him fine.

"Fair enough; so, Ichigo, what do you know about the Cold War?" asked Alan. He had a lot of ground to cover and wasn't in the mood to waste too much time.

" _Tch_ ," Ichigo sneered, turning his head fully to the man "What the hell kind of question is that? I thought I was done with pop-quizzes for today. What is this, a game show?"

"Humor me," Alan said, the recurring smirk playing on his face.

Ichigo furrowed his brow more than usual. Later 20th century history had been skimmed over in High School almost as much as in Junior High School. Although he was nearing the end of his second year, he still only had a passing knowledge of it beyond the outlines. "Wasn't it about conflict between America and Russia?" he ventured.

"The Soviet Union," Alan corrected, wagging a finger, before adopting a poignant look upwards, thumb and index finger to his chin. "Such a shame to know so little about something you lived through the end of!"

"I was like, 5 or 6 years old," muttered Ichigo. He couldn't remember exactly when it was reckoned to have ended and it had never meant much to him.

"But yes," Alan continued, ignoring him, "A 44-year geopolitical struggle between the USA and USSR, at their peak, respectively, having a strength of 3.5 and 5.3 million men and women under arms, and 31,700 and 40,700 nuclear weapons, each on average anywhere from as-powerful-as to a-thousand-times-stronger-than those dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Those are anachronous figures, of course, and don't reckon for their proxies, such as Japan—"

"So what?" Ichigo interrupted, his scowl deepening. Alan was transparently not a historian, and the relish with which he discussed such an obscure topic was frankly unnerving.

"Let me ask you a different question," said Alan, redirecting, "Do you know how many people the Yakuza employ?"

"Do you always answer questions with weirder questions?" Ichigo deadpanned, before sighing, "I have no idea."

Alan spared him a rhetorical guessing game and moved on. "Somewhat more than 100,000 people worldwide," he said. "As you may or may not know the Yakuza are interesting as compared to say, the Italian Mafia, because they have a semi-official status within Japan. Their predecessors achieved recognition under the feudal power-structure of the Edo period, and this carried forward after the Meiji Restoration. By and large their presence is tolerated by the authorities provided they keep their activities in check. In exchange, although the Yakuza engage in illegal enterprises such as racketeering, extortion, prostitution, narcotics, and human-trafficking, as a semi-open organization they also interact with average citizens, sometimes to their mutual benefit; consider their aid they rendered during the Great Hanshin earthquake." Alan paused and took a sip of his coffee, before looking Ichigo directly in the eyes with a sudden intensity "Does this sound like any other organization you know?"

Ichigo blinked. Although he wasn't an intellectual, he wasn't dumb, and Alan's implication was obvious even if he hadn't followed the logic train's tracks precisely. "Are…are you saying that the forces of Soul Society are like the Yakuza? That doesn't make any sense."

"Do the Yakuza run Japan?" asked Alan.

"No."

"The National Police Agency employs some 280,000 personnel. Do you think the Yakuza could beat the police in a straight up fight?"

"No…"

"Do you think the Yakuza could beat the Japanese Self-Defense Forces?"

"Definitely not."

"And do you think the Yakuza would stand any chance at all against the United States military?"

"None…But what does this have to do with—"

Alan held a hand up and gestured outside to stop him and draw his focus. "A Hollow walks down a street in a town and leaves footprints in the concrete and asphalt, it takes some swipes at buildings and leaves claw marks, it breaks things in such a way that they seem to explode even though there are no explosions. In a 'spiritually active' place like Karakura, multiple Hollows can attack in one day. Why has nobody ever noticed? Could it really just be ubiquitous use of _kikanshinki_ memory modifiers? How many Shinigami do you think are in the Gotei 13, Kidō Corps, and Onmitsukidō altogether?"

Ichigo frowned. The fact it seemed like Alan knew what he'd been thinking before he'd walked inside didn't fill him with any cheer. "Maybe a few tens of thousands?" he replied.

"More like less than 7,000. Something like between 100 and 150 billion people have lived and died during the existence of anatomically modern humans, most of those being during the past several tens of thousands of years. Do you think Rukongai's 320 districts hold even 100 million people, let alone a mere billion?"

"But, wouldn't a lot of those have been consumed by Hollows?" Ichigo said. He wasn't sure of the math himself, but…

"Speaking of that, if the Shinigami are the only force to go around purifying souls and Hollows, why are they so bad at it? Why are there so many Hollows running around to begin with? Why are there so many Pluses wandering the earth? Perhaps you're thinking they're just outnumbered and understaffed. Isn't it strange then that most of their duties seem to revolve around paperwork? Why would a horribly overworked and absolutely critical organization be mostly occupied with pencil-pushing? What is their paperwork even about?" Alan's gaze was cool as he asked Ichigo each question.

Ichigo felt that the man could surely produce a thousand more similar questions even as he knew all the answers, and stared at him for more than a minute without saying anything, his mind working over everything that had been said. This was all being done for his benefit, and the picture he had was increasingly clear. He didn't like what he saw. At last he said "So, what you're trying to tell me with all this is…Soul Society is a fraction of the afterlife, and the Shinigami aren't the biggest gang in it."

Alan just smiled. It was very different to the one from the other day, and appeared quite ordinary, which if anything made it more unnerving.

Ichigo felt a corner of his lip twitch and looked down at his tea. He wondered how quickly someone like Ishida would've put it all together—or Rukia. At least now that some of the pieces were in his mind, they were coming together very quickly and he realized the full magnitude of what this conversation was about. He looked up at Alan. "You work for the biggest gang, and you want me to join."

Alan's smile didn't change in the slightest. "Close enough."

Ichigo frowned and drank the tea in a single slow swig before turning to look out the café window, saying nothing for quite some time. "How do you know so much about Soul Society?" Ichigo asked at last. That was perhaps the surest indicator that what the man was saying was true.

"Sources and means," Alan replied, his tone now much more businesslike.

"Eh?" Ichigo looked at him with confusion.

"That means I can't tell you…yet."

"…Okay. Well, shouldn't they be monitoring me? They haven't sent anyone to check up on me but it seems weird that they wouldn't—"

"Yes, they've tasked people with watching out for you at times," Alan said, before seeming to weigh things he clearly knew, choosing what to reveal. "No, Kuchiki- _san_ was not among them; no, she didn't have a choice in the matter; no, they are not watching us right now; yes, that's because they're distracted; no, no one is in danger as a result of it."

Ichigo flinched slightly at this new, very direct form of exchange. He was by now already somewhat used to Alan behaving oddly and cryptically. He began to suspect the man had been putting on a kind of theater for his benefit. Some distant memory of "the Socratic method" flickered on the edge of his awareness but he paid it no heed. "So, you want me to—"

Alan leaned forward and looked him square in the eyes with the cold intensity he had observed the prior day, as if resolving to destroy his questions in a single blow. His voice had a brutally honest frost to it: "The United States government has been aware of Hollow and other supernatural and paranormal activity for a very long time. At present, operations to contain and control it are handled through US Special Operations Command, with representatives from all four major branches of the US military taking part. Together with equivalent counterparts in allied and affiliated nations, we keep this activity largely in check around the world. Sometimes things slip through the cracks, and that's the kind of activity you're familiar with. The Shinigami are one group allowed to deal with these comparatively minor affairs freely in exchange for not meddling in greater ones. As of this moment we are understaffed and underfunded in dealing with threats due to ongoing events in the world and are looking for reliable outside contractors to augment our efforts. You were the most promising one available to start with and the Japanese government offered no objections."

Ichigo found himself a bit wide-eyed at Alan's sudden frankness.

Alan sat back a bit and let both his look and tone soften. "You work for us and we get you back up to speed and a lot more besides. You'll work in six-month contracts, extended in the event you happen to be engaged at the end of them. You'll be given an acting-rank and pay grade commiserate with your duties. After a contract ends, it's up to you what you want to do. No obligations. Most if not almost all of your work will be local for at least the first contract. We won't ask you to do anything you might find truly objectionable. There are other benefits that can be discussed later. I'll spare you the details of the paperwork at the moment." The man's voice went comparatively quite quiet before he asked "Are you in or out?"

Ichigo found himself mentally returning to the previous day's exchange, and this time allowed himself to remember the long series of promises he had made all the way back to when Rukia had turned him into a Shinigami. He found himself grinning at Alan with newfound confidence and purpose. "When do I start?"

Alan brought a hand up onto the table and slid what appeared to be a pair of rather contemporary-looking sunglasses with silver frames and yellow-tinted lenses across to him. As Ichigo caught them Alan replied "Right away."

Ichigo picked them up curiously and blinked, looking at Alan in confusion. Alan set a small gym bag down on the table between him and likewise pushed it over, before listing off its contents to the teenager.

* * *

It was nearing sundown when Ichigo slid open the door to the residential half of the Kurosaki Clinic. "I'm home," he said lamely.

"Welcome home, Ichi- _nii_!" Yuzu exclaimed from off to one side, in the kitchen.

Karin looked up from the dining table "Ichi- _nii_ , welcome—what are those?"

"Eh?" said Ichigo. He was partially feigning ignorance, and partially still taking in what he could see. Karin looked normal, but she was outlined in a translucent, moderately bright, fuchsia aura. Wisps and strands floated up along it and curled back toward her, like the corona of the sun. It seemed to suddenly become more agitated.

"The things on your face, stupid!" she immediately replied, "Why are you wearing sunglasses inside?"

"Oh, these," Ichigo said, reaching up and touching the frames, "Anti-glare glasses. I've been having mild headaches and thought it might be eye-strain. When I stopped by an optometrist today she recommended them." It was a cover-story, but it had been plausible enough when Alan had told it to him. They looked the part, and they could also double as sunglasses. They had come with a receipt and prescription for the same function, seemingly entirely legitimate.

Karin blinked, and tilted her head slightly before starting "You never said anything about headaches…"

Ichigo held his hands up defensively with a sheepish smile "Ah, I didn't want to worry you guys!"

"They don't look bad on you, Ichi- _nii_ ," Yuzu offered.

Ichigo turned to her and saw her smiling at him. She had a relatively much dimmer aura about her than Karin, although it was of the same color. He faintly smiled back "Thanks, Yuzu!" It was then that he noticed Karin and Yuzu share a glance. He was astute enough to figure out they thought he was acting weirdly. He forced a scowl onto his face "Anyway, I'm pretty tired, so…yeah, goodnight," he said, immediately turning and going upstairs to his room. The performance would keep them off-guard at least.

He shut the door behind him and dropped his bags, getting onto his bed and looking outside through the window. Everything was bathed in gold as the sun slid below the horizon. Alan had told him that they were fifth-generation detectors designed to identify _reiatsu_ sources (he had hesitated before using that particular word as if there was more to it than that) and translate them into a visually intelligible format. They would assign different colors to different kinds of _reiatsu_ sources of origin. Alan had clarified that Shinigami would appear as red, Hollows yellow, hybrids like Visored and Arrancar as orange, Quincy as blue, and spiritually active humans as white. Other possibilities and the particular shades involved had been left up to his imagination at the time.

The fact that Karin and Yuzu were a light shade of purple immediately opened up several questions that he decided to put off considering until later. For now he watched various colors, almost all white, flit about his vision. The glasses were quite sensitive and capable of detecting anyone not squelching their _reiatsu_ out to a rather fair distance, on the order of a kilometer. There was a red signature moving around in the distance in front of him, rather bright compared to the white ones. He'd overheard Ishida complaining about Imoyama- _san_ 's abilities but the Shinigami did at least appear to be trying.

"Just be glad they've managed to figure out how to fit these into something smaller than a Starlight scope or night vision goggles," Alan had told him earlier. He had mentioned something about them utilizing a set of sealed _kidō_ -treated optics hooked to microprocessors, but the explanation had again felt like it was leaving something out. Ichigo hadn't pressed him on the specifics both because he knew he was unlikely to understand them and he also honestly didn't care.

He did know four things about them though: first, the glasses themselves were supposed to appear mundane to anyone themselves sensitive to _reiatsu_ —the _kidō_ was not detectable; second, they could flag specific individual signatures with IDs for easy reference and tracking; third, they could display a radar-like overhead view of the signatures within view; fourth, they had a simplistic heads-up display that related information about the local spiritual environment. The HUD currently showed nothing of great interest to him, although he still found it strange it was in Japanese. Presumably these had been customized just for him.

Turning back toward his door he saw the two fuchsia signatures downstairs through the floor and another red one where the clinic proper would be. Alan had demanded he turn over his cell phone and had done…something…to it to connect it to the glasses wirelessly. By centering a signature in his vision and using a particular app on his phone, he could flag it for the system to recognize by name. He immediately added his family before taking off the glasses and flopping onto his bed. He decided to completely ignore the gym bag for now. He suddenly felt exhausted.

"Information is power," Alan had said, "Awareness is the first step in resistance…Hard to fight what you can't see." Ichigo felt his consciousness starting to drift away from him.

"So what are you guys called?" he had asked.

"Our entire group only has an informal code name, Nightmare Eclipse," Alan had said. "As you might imagine, we're usually identified as either Nightmares or Eclipses, depending." There had been an ominous gleam in his eye as he had said it.

Ichigo fell asleep, and for the first time in a long time slept without remembering any of his dreams.

* * *

 **A/N:** **The glasses Ichigo has can be reckoned to be sort of vaguely similar to those Renji wears when he and Byakuya take Rukia back to Soul Society.**


	3. 1-03: The Flare's Blue Glare

**A/N: Hello! This is my first time writing fan fiction so I would just like to say thank you in advance to anyone who chooses to review this. The first four chapters were all written at the same time to get the story moving.**

 ** _Bleach_ and all products thereof are copyright to Tite Kubo, et al.**

* * *

 **Wednesday, February 12, 2003**

It was still dark when Ichigo woke up of his own accord. He looked at the clock: 6:15 AM. He realized with disgust that he wasn't tired and wouldn't be getting back to sleep. He sat up in bed. In the darkness his eyes wandered over to where to he'd left the gym bag Alan had given him. Ignoring the cold, he got up and retrieved it, sitting back down on the bed and opening it up. Inside were precisely the items that Alan had described: a flare gun and a necklace sitting on top of a stack of manila folders.

Ichigo withdrew the flare gun first, considering it. There was nothing special marking it out as what Alan had described it as: "Single-shot self-defense weapon, use it if you get attacked by a Hollow. You're not a marksman, so let it get close and don't miss." The only thing that seemed unusual was a brace at the back of the trigger that had to be deliberately removed, presumably to keep it from firing accidentally. He smiled as the idea of shooting a Hollow in the face with a flare struck him as oddly funny. He set it aside to put in his own backpack.

Next there was the necklace. It had a relatively simple chain and the pendant at the end wasn't very ornate, a rather plain shield with what appeared to be a sort of tribal design carved into it and inlaid with something like onyx. He wasn't sure what it was supposed to represent, if anything. " _Reiatsu_ jammer," Alan had said, "wear it at all times after today." Ichigo had protested that he didn't have any _reiatsu_ and Alan had just reiterated the command. Ichigo picked up the glasses he'd been issued and put them on, studying both the flare gun and the necklace, finding neither had the slightest hint of spiritual energy. He scowled suspiciously before putting the necklace on, leaving the glasses on as well.

Lastly there was the stack of four folders, all but the last well over a centimeter thick. He pulled all of them out at once and looked at the top one, the thickest at almost three centimeters, finding it emblazoned with some sort of seal ringed in English. "Department of Defense…United States of America," he read slowly. The top and bottom were stamped "TOP SECRET/SI-GAMMA 7777-GEMINI/RESERVOIR/NOFORN" and he had no clue what that meant other than the "top secret" part. He would've laughed had he known "noforn" meant "no foreign nationals." Alan had said "You've also got some homework, which technically speaking you aren't supposed to have access to; I have latitude to disburse it to you given the circumstances, but needless to say, nobody else can know you have it."

Opening it, Ichigo found what appeared to be an official report. Each page had a translated equivalent in Japanese paper-clipped to it. The translation was a bit choppy—Ichigo guessed that Alan himself had not translated these—but carried the meaning across well enough. It was an official history of American government efforts to deal with was repeatedly labeled as "supernatural and paranormal activity." From the table of contents it became clear the history began with 1775 but the vast bulk of the folder's contents seemed to date to World War II and later. He set the folder to the side and looked at the other three which seemed to be, in descending order both in the stack and size, organizational information, a kind of handbook, and reams of contract paperwork.

It became clear to Ichigo that was he was expected to read all of this, and in the case of the last set, fill it out. "Bastard," he growled, "Like I don't have enough to do already." He put the latter three folders back into order and into the gym bag, then took the contents of the first out of the folder, putting the folder itself into the gym bag as well, closing it. He then looked around for somewhere obscure to put the gym bag and ultimately decided to set it among various things in the lower part of his closet. He found himself inadvertently staring at the upper shelf before deliberately forcing his attention to the cabinet beside his desk, looking through his school supplies and materials. He found an unused three-ring binder and slid the former contents of the folder into its rings. At least it would be portable without drawing attention.

Looking up at the clock he was depressed to find it was only 6:33. He went and grabbed his backpack, shoving the flare gun into the least used pocket it would fit in, and got a change of clothes, resolving to take a long shower.

* * *

It was 7:02 by the time he was fully dressed and back in his bedroom, sitting in front of the window and reading through the history. He could tell from the first few pages that it would be slow going, but the material was at least interesting. The American effort had officially begun with the country's rebellion from the British Empire, but had been predated by the activities of their English and later British equivalents on the North American continent. These were briefly described, but not in any great detail. (There were repeated references to another document that he didn't have which covered such matters.) Once America had become independent, it had set up its own forces to handle such matters. These were mostly concentrated within the Continental and later US Army on a unit-by-unit level, usually in the form of the chaplains.

The martial nature was explained through a series of battlefield anecdotes; things that matched Ichigo's understanding of Hollows—and other things he didn't recognize—were apparently drawn to the chaos of active war zones. He'd never thought about it before but it made sense. Owing to the great chaos that could be caused, and the resultant battlefield impact, military forces had long taken steps to protect themselves. The American effort, like the British and English ones preceding it, had grown out of centuries and millennia of military need and gradually expanded from there.

By 7:45 he had finished reading the overview of activities during the Revolutionary War and was halfway through the War of 1812 when the door handle jiggled. Ichigo slammed the binder shut, not needing the glasses to know who was on the other side.

His dad burst into the room, proclaiming "Good morning, Ichigooo—" while ringed in swirling electric red, and began to rush him, only to stop halfway across the room, leveling a finger accusingly at Ichigo's face. "—What the hell are those?" he asked.

"Anti-glare glasses," Ichigo said with ire. He could already tell that everyone was going to be asking this question and it already irritated him. He cursed Alan silently this time. "Didn't Karin or Yuzu tell you about them last night?"

"My own son and daughters keeping things from me," Isshin wailed, crocodile tears streaming from his eyes as he looked at the ceiling, crying "Dear, did I go so wrong as a father?!"

"Shut up, I just didn't think it was that big a deal," Ichigo muttered, "I have a prescription for them, and I'm trying to study here!" Isshin suddenly stood up ramrod straight, regarding Ichigo intensely as if studying him. At last he nodded gravely, like he was completely sure of something. Ichigo could feel a pit forming in his stomach. _Does he know somehow?_ If anybody would be able to detect something was off about the glasses, a former Shinigami _taichō_ would surely be the one to do so. The red aura about his father intensified. "What?" Ichigo asked crabbily to hide his newfound fear.

"You actually look kinda cool with those on; they will _definitely_ make you a hit with the ladies," Isshin said with total confidence, thrusting a fist up in the air. "Dear, our boy will finally be a real success with women!"

"Shut up!" Ichigo shouted, throwing a notebook at his father and jumping to his feet. Get out of my room!" he continued, proceeding to chase and hit his father out of the bedroom, slamming the door behind him. He knew that his dad was letting him reassert his privacy, but it was good enough for him. Grousing at the old man's nerve, he went back to reading. His father hadn't commented on the fact he'd already been up.

It was 7:55 when he noticed a fuchsia signature approaching the door. Karin knocked, declaring "Ichi- _nii_ , breakfast is ready!" before tromping back downstairs.

He closed the binder and slid it into his backpack with his actual school materials and collected his things before opening the door and following after her. In truth his entire family had grown more respectful of his privacy since he had lost his power. He had welcomed and hated it by turns, but it was at least useful now. Breakfast passed with what was, for the Kurosaki family, blissful peacefulness.

"Okay, I'm going," Ichigo said, getting up and going to the door.

"Have a good day, Ichi- _nii_ ," called Yuzu, to which Karin nodded, adding "Later, Ichi- _nii_."

Ichigo smiled before his dad leaped at him, proclaiming "Knock'em dead, Ichigooo—" only to be punched into the ground for his troubles.

"Pervert," Ichigo muttered, opening the door and stepping out before closing it behind him. He could halfway hear Isshin's protestations to his sisters as he made his way to the sidewalk. He was not ten meters down the street when he heard running behind him and felt an intense weariness with the world at both the quantity and quality of idiocy he was forced to confront on a daily basis.

"Ichigooo—" Keigo called at him in the last meter, before Ichigo unceremoniously sidestepped and turned, clotheslining him. He could see Mizuiro, walking some ways behind, wave.

Ichigo raised his forearm as if flexing, a vein throbbing on his forehead, and declared loud enough for both to hear "I swear, if either of you badger me about these glasses—"

"Why are you—" Keigo started, only to receive a kick that made groan.

"What did I just say?! They're prescription for headaches! Now shut up!" Ichigo exclaimed.

"They don't look bad, Ichigo," Mizuiro said, continuing on past him. Ichigo kicked Keigo again for good measure and turned, following him. Keigo caught up surprisingly quickly considering the abuse he'd just endured. They didn't discuss much else on the way to school.

Ichigo spent the morning fending off the same question from everyone else and producing the prescription in question for his teachers. He was, by lunch, completely sick of the whole thing and resolved that he hated the glasses, even though most people had actually complimented them (except for Ishida, who had merely pushed up his own actual glasses) and everyone had accepted the explanation without question, meaning he was unlikely to be asked again. Inoue, in particular, wouldn't stop going on about how cool they looked.

At the same time he had, surreptitiously, been entering signature IDs, and had completed entering his set of friends well before lunch: Inoue, Ishida, Chad, Tatsuki, Keigo, Mizuiro, Chizuru, and Michiru just for good measure. It was notable that all of them showed up in the glasses, but then given their previous proximity to the Hōgyoku, that wasn't surprising; in fact a lot of the students in Karakura High School seemed to have gained some mild level of _reiatsu_ that way.

He tried to excuse himself in order to study the binder at lunch, only to be met with Keigo's protestations of betrayal (for which he had beaten his friend) and everyone else's incredulity. Ishida had yet again only pushed his glasses up his nose in disbelief, and so he was dragged along through social obligation to a rooftop luncheon. He found himself watching signals transit across Karakura as everyone else chatted. At one point a Hollow appeared somewhere in the distance and Imoyama- _san_ had actually been close enough to recognize and deal with it. It was almost like watching a video game: red and yellow dots meeting and flickering only for the yellow one to disappear.

Ishida had started up when it happened, followed by Chad and Inoue, but all of them had just as quickly relaxed when they sensed Imoyama- _san_ had it under control. Ichigo neither moved nor said anything even as he watched it all happen, and other than what seemed to be a lingering glance from Ishida he had caught out of the corner of his eyes, they didn't notice him not reacting. The rest of the day was uneventful, and so he said his goodbyes for the day and went to work.

"Ah, Ichigo- _chan_ , you're right on time for once!" Ikumi declared as he walked in, before looking at him curiously. "Are you a delinquent now? What's the deal with—"

"They're prescription!" Ichigo bellowed, mentally cursing Alan's existence and making his way to the couch in a huff. Ikumi for once didn't ask questions but instead just smiled softly. Ichigo found it entirely too creepy and out of character as she continued to do so while proceeding about her business. Once a call came in and she was her usual aggressive self, he let out a sigh of relief that it wasn't permanent, adding her as well to the ID list. Her _reiatsu_ was very faint, but he was here enough to feel an obligation to add her for safety's sake.

Business remained slow, and so he studied the binder, getting through the first half of the American Civil War. That had been when the first great emphasis had been placed on dealing with supernatural and paranormal phenomena, as the great bloodshed had apparently drawn much more interest from other worlds. This was when the US Army had transitioned from relying on individual informed soldiers to having small dedicated units. They had been called Frighteners.

He had only read of some of their exploits before Ikumi spoke up "Ichigo- _chan_ , you may as well head home, we're not likely to get any more business tonight." She sounded tired.

Ichigo didn't protest, instead packing up his things. "If you say so…Ikumi- _san_. Have a good night, yeah?" Ichigo said, offering what was, for him, a pleasant tone as he stood.

Ikumi eyed him with a degree of suspicion before nodding and grunting out an "Ah" in acknowledgement. Her young employee was indeed deeply mysterious in his moods.

Ichigo nodded back and returned home. Dinner was unusually quiescent, and after an hour and a half in bed reading about the Frighteners during and after the Civil War, he fell asleep.

* * *

 **Thursday, February 13, 2003**

Ichigo was awoken by his cell phone ringing. He groggily fumbled for it and checked the time. It was 2:09 AM. The caller didn't have an ID, but he knew from the number it was Alan. He had deliberately not added him to his contacts in case anyone checked his phone. He angrily flicked it open, muttering "Do you know what time it is, asshole?" He was still resentful of the grief he'd taken over the glasses the day previous.

"Get to Tsubakidai Park in Sakurabashi," Alan said.

"Eh?" Ichigo said, eyes widening as he became suddenly alert. Tsubakidai was across the Karasu River from his own neighborhood, Minamikawase, and very near to both Chad and Inoue's places. If they were in danger…

"Now, and don't forget anything," Alan said, ending the call. Ichigo bolted out of bed, throwing on clothes and grabbing both the glasses and the flare gun. He slid open his window and shuffled onto the roof, closing it behind him before dropping down and starting to run. Clouds were rolling in that obscured the gibbous moon, and no one was about in the cold and dark. It took him only a few minutes to make it to the park.

As he came to face the park in question, he could see a yellow signature moving around after a white one—a Hollow chasing someone. He pulled out his phone as he continued running and called Alan back. The phone rang several times before the man picked it up. "Kinda busy here," he said, his voice clearly strained. There was some kind of commotion in the background.

"What the hell am I supposed to do against a Hollow?" Ichigo spat out.

"Wouldn't blame you for not noticing, everything considered, but nobody's gonna be coming to save that Plus except you, buddy. Use the flare gun," Alan replied, before ending the call.

Ichigo jerked his head toward the heart of town and felt his eyes bulge upon seeing several yellow signatures swarming about and dissipating, flashes of red, blue, white, and almost-white-but-slightly cream-colored moving among the yellow signatures as they disappeared. IDs immediately came up identifying Chad, Inoue, and Ishida. He assumed the red signature was still Imoyama- _san_. It was nowhere near the amount that had come to Karakura when Ishida had used the Hollow bait years before, but the numbers seemed almost constant, as if something was drawing them in. Whatever it was, it wasn't serious enough to draw out his father or the Urahara Shop, let alone the Visored, and that gave him some measure of relief, though it had sounded like maybe Alan was engaged as well.

In any event, the one in the park must've been one that got away from the others, and it was up to him to stop it. He rounded the last corner and ran into the park, the yellow signature resolving itself into the shape of a rather ordinary bipedal Hollow. It was chasing the white outline of a Plus, the ghost of a young woman, around the park. He could hear neither of them, seeing only their apparitions and some of the destruction caused by the Hollow.

Without hesitating, Ichigo moved to intercept and position himself between the two. His legs pumping, Ichigo ran in front of the Plus and faced the Hollow, shouting "Why don't you try picking on somebody who can actually fight back?!" The Hollow's outline, perhaps ten meters away, paused briefly and tilted its head at him, confused at this spiritually mundane interloper, before roaring and charging him down all the same.

Ichigo had held the flare gun in hand as he ran and had popped the brace out upon reaching the park. He now drew it up with both hands like he'd seen in the movies and took aim before coolly squeezing its trigger. In the seconds that followed several things happened.

He did not notice, focused as he was on events before him, a glittering pencil-thin beam lancing through the Plus as she continued running behind him, nor the Hell Butterfly that flew off from her prompt _konsō_.

For him, the world immediately seemed to shift into extreme slow motion, and he became aware of the magnitude of his own intense killing intent, something he hadn't felt since the fight with Aizen. At the same time the orange plastic casing of the supposed flare gun had blown off of everywhere but the handle, flying away languidly. What remained was an odd and strangely threatening mix of what seemed to be steel and copper colored-tubing laced with tiny wiring, some of the pieces being intricately grooved and inset. Instantly the tubing telescoped out, extending the overall length of the gun to some 30cm or so. The steel sections began rotating with increasing speed in sequentially different directions, while insets on the copper ones snapped open and began to glow an increasingly vibrant blue. _What…the hell_ , Ichigo found himself thinking, before a sharp pain in his right hand drew his attention. The gun had…stabbed him?

Ichigo didn't have time to really consider the wound in his hand, even in what he now recognized to be his own accelerated perception of events. He instead realized the weapon wasn't just glowing blue visually, but in the glasses as well. _Quincy…?_ Its signature was perfectly ordered and channeled compared to that of a living being, and he could almost visually trace the pathways of energy in it. He felt his eyes go wide as sections of it simply turned off before flaring red, yellow, and white. These became dominant near the handle, and a cold fear at the center of his being formed about what this thing he had just activated really was.

It was then that he noticed his vision was growing streaky, lines converging toward the weapon, and that the front of the Hollow was very slowly disintegrating even as it ran at him, as if it had been splashed with acid. A warning pulsed lazily at the corner of the glasses and he realized it had been there since the moment he'd pulled the trigger: "Abnormal Ambient _Reishi_." He understood then. This _thing_ was drawing in all available _reishi_ to convert it into _reiatsu_ , like a Quincy could. A second warning suddenly started to strobe: " _Kishi_ to _Reishi_ Conversion Field."

The ground beneath the gun cratered and began to drift upward in clumps, fluorescing before disintegrating, the crater itself deepening and spreading everywhere but a tapered cone backward from Ichigo's person. There was a rush of wind as if the atmosphere itself was being drawn into the barrel of the weapon. Sparks crackled along its segments as its blue glow, both physical and sensory, dramatically intensified. The park was now lit entirely in that spectral blue. The red, white, and yellow signatures rapidly grew in intensity to match, and Ichigo could only just see through the glare that the circuit-like patterns of all four seemed to be feeding into his hand and arm…

It stopped as suddenly as it had begun. The park was lit normally. The HUD warnings, the streaking effect in the glasses, the ground evaporating, the wind, all had stopped. The gun, however, still glowed in its four intense colors, and the Hollow was still coming, now only meters from him. Suddenly a marble-sized blue-white sphere appeared at the end of the barrel before expanding rapidly. As if knowing what was about to happen, Ichigo instinctively jerked the weapon upwards toward the Hollow's head. The sphere shot forward at a ridiculous speed at the end of a beam of extraordinary intensity, the gun itself fading in his vision as it continued to discharge. The Hollow was instantly obliterated. The beam continued up into the sky as a sudden heat flared up Ichigo's arms, dominant in the right one and increasing until he felt both would combust. He screamed. The heat only kept increasing as it came to quickly suffuse his entire body. He roared beneath the white energy lance heading for space, and at last as the gun went dark and the beam ended he fell backwards, unconscious from agony, clutching the weapon in a death grip.

The park was completely silent as darkness took it once more, save for the soft crunch of shoes on dirt. Alan, clad in unusual military combat gear, walked up to Ichigo's inert body with purpose but not excess haste, a rather vicious-looking rifle of some sort at ease in his hands. He shouldered it and readily picked the teen up in a fireman's carry. The whole thing from Ichigo pulling the trigger to the end of the blast had been perhaps five seconds, and he needed the kid to be in bed before everyone came to investigate the signal he had just sent up. Some of them would probably check on him, specifically, and his family before going to the site.

Had anyone been watching the pair, they would have seen them both vanish.

* * *

 **A/N: The flare gun's visual style is based somewhat on the Casters from _Outlaw Star_. That's the only real relation.**


	4. 1-04: Back In Black

**A/N: Hello! This is my first time writing fan fiction so I would just like to say thank you in advance to anyone who chooses to review this. The first four chapters were all written at the same time to get the story moving.**

 ** _Bleach_ and all products thereof are copyright to Tite Kubo, et al.**

* * *

 **Thursday, February 13, 2003**

Ichigo's eyelids flickered as sunlight slowly tracked across them. He opened his eyes and slowly sat up, realizing he didn't remember going to bed or even coming home, or…the events of the park suddenly hit him like a truck. Had it been a dream? He began to look about to orient himself when suddenly he heard Alan's voice. "Don't freak out about the time, your family and everyone else all just think you're sick," it said in a quiet tone.

Ichigo's head whipped to his left, toward the closet. Alan was sitting where Rukia used to sleep, leaning against one of its walls with his arms crossed behind his head. He looked somewhere between bored and contemplative. Ichigo was struck by the fact he seemed to be wearing some kind of fatigues or jumpsuit he'd never seen before that had a pixilated grey color, as well as black combat boots. The fact the man was yet another stranger winding up in his closet wasn't lost on him, but entirely beside the point at the moment.

"What the hell are you doing in my room?!" Ichigo found himself rasping. He had been of the mind to be quiet, but his vocal chords hurt and did most of the work for him. He was immediately struck by the memory of screaming, in particular, and began to wonder why his arms no longer hurt.

Alan stood up, towering over the teen sitting on the bed. His expression was droll. "Doing overwatch on you, and being here for when you woke up so I could answer the questions you'd inevitably ask and you wouldn't wander around being suspiciously pissed off all day. How do you think you got here anyway?"

Ichigo blinked and scowled, before glancing sideways at his clock. It was 12:13 PM. "Ahhh! What the hell?!" he croaked, only to be pegged in the head with an eraser Alan had just picked up.

"I told you not to worry about it," the man said, pulling out Ichigo's desk chair and sitting down on it. "Anyway, let's get this over with. You have questions, ask them."

"What the hell was that thing?" Ichigo said, his tone growing completely serious. He stared at Alan with unbridled intensity.

"You mean this?" Alan asked, holding up the gun in one hand by the barrel. It was now dark gunmetal grey all over and streaked with black, as if it had been scorched in a fire. Even the plastic in the handle looked dull and seemed to be stained with dried blood. Alan regarded it casually: "Officially, the Pistol, Experimental, Energy, Spiritual, XM139; unofficially the Morning Star. Single-shot _reiatsu_ weapon for personal defense, rated for targets equivalent to what you know as an Adjuchas-class Menos. This one has been custom-modified to unlock your potential. The design is antiquated and predates USSOCOM jurisdiction over supernatural and paranormal affairs. It's basically a scaled down version of something that once upon a time was more like an artillery piece."

Ichigo felt his face twitching as a thousand follow-up questions screamed in his mind. "You said 'unlock my potential'…how?" he grated out at last.

Alan continued to inspect the weapon, as if he hadn't seen one before or in quite some time. "It comes from a time when what you call _reiryoku_ was not commonly found in our forces and they had no internal reservoir to draw from, so it was designed to draw from the ambient environment instead. You probably noticed that some of its operations strongly resembled the powers of the Quincy. Anyway, this one was modified to also dump energy into you through the use of…well, let's just say it did. It poured everything it could into you and everything else it fired normally."

"Are—are you telling me that thing could've been even more powerful?!" Ichigo got out, disbelief obvious on his face.

"It would have been able to kill or heavily wound everything you fought below the ranking Espada, and would likely have significantly damaged their lower-ranking members," Alan said, looking at the teen. There was now an emptiness in the man's eyes and a frost to his voice that set Ichigo's teeth on edge.

In a flash of anger Ichigo found himself hunched forward, the man's collar in his clenched fist. "Why the hell did you give me something like that to use in Karakura?!" he demanded. There was rage in his eyes and written all across his face; he was close enough he could see his own reflection in Alan's eyes, and he saw it.

Alan didn't seem impressed or perturbed in the slightest, and he spoke with the exact same dangerously measured tone. "First, because there was no guarantee as to what you might've drawn the attention of or run into and I have no interest in sending you on a suicide mission. Second, because I made an informed assumption that you would absorb a significant amount of its output given the circumstances and history should you have needed to use it. Third, because I made an informed assumption you would realize exactly what it was capable of after activating it and would aim appropriately." With that, he used the husk of the gun to push Ichigo's wrist to one side, personally satisfied that none of the reasons was explicitly a lie.

Ichigo loosened his grip and let Alan move his hand, sitting back. Alan himself also leaned back and put the gun on the table. "Was that Hollow…completely destroyed?" Ichigo asked.

"No. The Morning Star gathers energy sort of like a Quincy, but its discharge functions somewhat like _kidō_. The Hollow was purified."

"What about that girl's ghost?" he said, suddenly remembering. Had the gun torn her soul apart for her _reishi_?

"I took care of that. She got a _konsō_. She's probably integrating after crossing over as we speak." Alan didn't bother to specify how he'd done it or where exactly she'd gone. He doubted Ichigo really cared about the implications. Not yet, anyway.

"Why was it disguised as a flare gun?" Ichigo asked lamely. He realized he was now deliberately avoiding the most burning questions he wanted to ask.

"Because it fits the form factor of one and in some ways also the function, so the packaging is not only less likely to raise questions from people who don't need to know, but also serves as a useful reminder to its user that it shouldn't be treated as a true weapon," Alan said.

"…What do you mean 'in some ways also the function,' and 'a true weapon'?" Ichigo asked, eyes narrowed, "You just told me it could potentially kill a Números or Privaron Espada without issue."

"It only has one shot," Alan said casually, "so suppose you missed. As far as it's a weapon, it's one of last resort. However, it draws enough attention that any potential reinforcements one might have available are likely to rush to provide aid." Alan smiled that oddly cryptic smile again "You know that everyone in Western Tokyo with even the slightest degree of spiritual attunement felt it with how you angled it up, right?"

Ichigo's eyes went wide "Then that means they know, everyone—" he began.

Alan crossed his arms and shook his head. "They know _it_ went off, and certainly everyone in Karakura who could detect such things would've felt the _reiatsu_ it emanated, but it's not _you_ , and there was nothing recognizable about that _reiatsu_ to anyone. To them it would have seemed very unusual in both character and kind. If anything, they're still both alarmed and confused by that fact…" he trailed off, casting his glance about as if he could see things occurring beyond the room. "But for all they know, you were here in bed sleeping the whole time. Fortunately, it was confusing enough that even your dad and sisters didn't think to check on you very first thing," he concluded. It was fortunate indeed, but he'd banked on it. Since all of Ichigo's friends, family, cohorts, and watchers relied upon remote perception, and Ichigo had heretofore no _reiatsu_ to remotely perceive, they could only confirm he was okay visually. That had given him an ample window of time to get him back to where he was "supposed" to be.

A silence lingered between them for well over a minute at that, Ichigo looking at the floor and Alan appearing to study a wall. Ichigo slid his legs off the bed and stood, turning to look out the window. "If it had worked, wouldn't they have been able to detect my _reiatsu_?"

"You're wearing the jammer, remember?" Alan replied. It was hopefully clear why he'd insisted on it.

"…So did it work?" Ichigo asked, turning. He found Alan putting on a dark glove and instantly had a flashback to several years prior, even though it looked nothing like the one from then.

"Let's find out," Alan said. In a single smooth and inhumanly fast motion he rose and slammed a palm into Ichigo's chin.

Ichigo grabbed his jaw in pain and staggered back a few steps from the blow. "You bastard, that really hurt!" he croaked through gritted teeth, looking up to see his own body standing for a moment. Alan caught it by the sides and directed its fall onto the bed without much effort before turning to face him. Ichigo stared back at him wide-eyed, and the room was quiet enough to hear a pin drop. Presences immediately outside the room—his dad's was the nearest—and gradually farther and farther made themselves known in his mind, and Ichigo slowly looked down to find a familiar outfit clothing him.

Ichigo looked up at the man to see what looked like a genuine smile. He could only see him for a moment before the world went blurry with tears. Ichigo brought a sleeve up to his face, wiping hard. He wasn't going to give the man the satisfaction of seeing him cry, even if this was all a result of his doing. _I can finally_ …Ichigo thought, and the rest went unsaid even in his thoughts, images of his friends and family flickering before him, and of course of her. He didn't know how to put into words how he felt.

Alan, for his part, knew there was no need to interfere and was of no mind to gawk at an emotional teenager, and so he turned and busied himself with retrieving something from the closet. By the time Ichigo had composed himself enough to continue, the man had slid the remains of the pistol into one of his straps and was doing something with a rifle the length of Ichigo's entire arm. Everything about it looked incredibly destructive, although he could sense no _reiatsu_ coming from it…or from Alan for that matter.

Alan caught his stare before looking down at the gun and back up to Ichigo, offering "M161, Moonlight Scythe. Insurance for last night, didn't have time to drop it off. And no, you're not the only one who's got a jammer. Anyway, I should really get going, and you should probably get back in your body and get to school. We'll talk later." The man shouldered the rifle and made as if to leave, before stopping. "Oh, and Ichigo—direct skin-to-skin contact will override the jammer's effect." Then he was gone.

Ichigo blinked and looked around, wondering _What the hell, can he teleport?_ He quickly replayed what he had just seen over and over again. It was then he noticed the curtains billowing slightly from a window not entirely closed. He wasn't sure of the extent of his newly returned awareness yet, but all the evidence indicated that Alan was merely doing something like _shunpo_ , _sonido_ , or _hirenkyaku_. He hoped his senses were still sluggish, because if they were anything like what they were even after the first invasion of Seireitei, Alan could literally give Yoruichi a run for her money.

He sighed and put the thought aside, going to his bed and getting back into his body. He still had two more questions that he felt he knew the answers to already and wouldn't like having confirmed. First, what was the deal with the mixed-color energy signatures like his sisters and Chad? Second, what had caused all those Hollows to appear the night before?

He mentally filed the questions away and practiced looking tired and put out a few times. It didn't feel much different from the way he normally looked, so he got up and went to get dressed. Of course, nobody was downstairs to greet him when he turned up, Yuzu and Karin both at school and his dad in the clinic proper, so he left a short note that read simply "Felt better, went to class, sorry," on the table and headed to school. He had decided to continue wearing the glasses, mostly because to stop so suddenly would create suspicion but also partly because he wouldn't let his irritation the previous day be in vain. Looking at his own arm and finding it obviously didn't register, he was left with a third question: what color was his _reiatsu_? He put that out of mind with the others.

As he continued walking he could feel his friends' _reiatsu_ increase with every footfall, and felt a certain spring in his step at the sensation.


	5. 1-05: Shinigami Interrupted

**A/N: Enter the other half of the equation. Thank you to GrandMal for giving such an early review!**

 ** _Bleach_ and all products thereof are copyright to Tite Kubo, et al.**

* * *

 **Thursday, February 13, 2003**

"One of my guys should be the one to go," said Kenpachi. He was sincerely of the belief that someone like Ikkaku could beat Ichigo's powers back into him, and this was the perfect cover.

"I'm due time off," Hitsugaya said with his arms crossed.

"Obviously, a detachment of the _keigun_ should be dispatched," said Suì-Fēng, as if that was the end of the matter.

"Is that your official recommendation as head of the Onmitsukidō?" asked Komamura.

"Of course," she replied haughtily.

The former Visored, Shinji, Rose, and Kensei all shared looks, before Shinji interjected "I can have my people do it easily. They're already in position after all." He referred, of course, to the Visored whom had stayed behind in the Living World.

"My _fukutaichō_ is familiar with the environs of Karakura and would easily handle any necessary investigation and follow-up, making him the optimal candidate," Byakuya said flatly.

"Optimal?" asked Mayuri, as if tasting the word, "Has that word been redefined since the last time I looked at a dictionary? Precisely what about Abarai- _fukutaichō_ qualifies as optimal? The 12th Division's Technological Development Department is clearly the best suited to investigate such a mysterious _reiatsu_ signature."

"I would caution you regarding insulting my subordinates," Byakuya replied without heat, not even deigning to look at the man.

The bickering of the _taichō_ of the Gotei 13 became a free-for-all as the majority of them made their cases for why their personnel, in particular, should be dispatched. Only Yamamoto, Unohana, Komamura, Shunsui, and Ukitake stood silent among the noise.

" _Yare_ , _yare_ ," muttered Shunsui, before looking at Ukitake. He could see his friend coming to a conclusion and once Ukitake looked back at him, he nodded in assent.

When Ukitake spoke his words were soft, but cut through the cacophony like a blade: "Karakura is under my Division's jurisdiction, and I think…that we all know who should be sent." The room fell silent as he looked up and down the row of assembled _taichō_ with a flinty gaze that dared his peers to challenge him. His stare lingered especially on Byakuya, who did not bother to return it, before moving finally to Yamamoto.

The old man had opened his eyes slightly and returned his one-time pupil's gaze. He shifted his view slightly to Shunsui, and saw an unusually intense look of affirmation. After some moments he closed his eyes once more and rapped his cane upon the floor. "It is decided. 13th Division _fukutaichō_ Kuchiki Rukia will be deployed to Karakura to investigate the events there until such time as their cause has been determined. You are dismissed."

* * *

It was midday by the time Ukitake had returned to the 13th Division headquarters and dispatched Kiyone and Sentarō to bring Rukia to his office. He sighed and retrieved his largely unused _denreishinki_ from a drawer to make arrangements with Urahara. He had the feeling that somehow this would become more trouble than he anticipated, but he was fully aware that he owed it to his _fukutaichō_ and so he would see it through.

* * *

Rukia was sitting beneath a mulberry tree beside a pond doing paperwork when they found her. Although it was winter, Soul Society's weather was not as variable as the Living World's, and so while the temperature was cool, by noon it had become rather quite pleasant. She had decided to take advantage of it while she could.

She looked up when she felt both Sentarō and Kiyone approach her, and waved, only to stop as she saw them both running hard. She stood with her work in hand and made her way out from under the tree and to the nearby path. "What's wrong?" she called out.

"Ukitake- _taichō_ has requested you visit his office!" said Sentarō.

"No, Ukitake- _taichō_ said you need to visit his office immediately!" rebutted Kiyone.

"That's what I said!" shouted Sentarō.

"No, you said—" Kiyone began shouting back.

Rukia found herself pinching the bridge of her nose at their usual act and, not in the mood for dealing with it, shoved her work into Sentarō's hands, before using _Shunpo_ to make her way to the office of her _taichō_. She arrived promptly and made her way inside, stopping outside the doors. " _Taichō_ , you summoned for me?"

"Come in," came Ukitake's response.

She pulled one of the doors open and walked inside, closing it behind her. Ukitake sat behind his desk in a posture that seemed relaxed but that she could tell was anything but. She walked up in front of the desk and stood at attention. She could see the _denreishinki_ sitting on it, but said nothing.

"Sit down and stop being so formal, Kuchiki," said Ukitake. He gave her a small smile and gestured at the chair.

She took a seat and found herself staring at the _denreishinki_. " _Taichō_ , I've known you for long enough to know when something's going on."

Ukitake exhaled softly and leaned forward, clasping his hands in front of him on the desk. "An unusual event has occurred in Karakura,' he began. Rukia's head instantly snapped up and her ultramarine eyes met his with a sudden intensity. He could feel her _reiatsu_ begin to spike. "Everyone is fine, Rukia. Kurosaki- _san_ is fine," he added, his tone tender. She visibly relaxed enough for him to continue. "It has been determined that an investigation should be conducted. You've been selected for deployment to handle it…until such time as you come to a determination as to what happened."

Rukia's eyes widened a bit at this and she struggled internally to fight down all the questions she immediately had. She found she had to mentally force further questions about Ichigo aside. "What happened?" she asked after some moments.

"We received reports of a highly unusual _reiatsu_ discharge originating from Karakura. This took the form of a white beam which had a power comparable to the release of a _kidō_ -type _bankai_ or a very high level _cero_. Not only Zennosuke- _san_ in Karakura proper, but the guardian of Naruki and indeed all those in Western Tokyo, and some in Tokyo itself, reported this incident," he said.

Rukia felt a growing unease and could sense her fingers clenching the desk, but said nothing.

"This discharge reportedly had a very unusual _reiatsu_ signature, and came from a location in which there had been no great presence of _reiatsu_ previously. At that time, Zennosuke- _san_ , as well as your friends Ishida- _san_ , Orihime- _san_ , and Yasutora- _san_ were engaged with multiple Hollows that apparently attacked the town in a coordinated fashion. They reported the number of these Hollows to be consistent through time; for each they dispatched, another appeared. Apparently in the confusion one got away, and was the victim of the discharge. Once the discharge occurred, all Hollows withdrew immediately," Ukitake concluded.

"And there is no indication as to the origin or nature of this discharge?" Rukia asked with incredulity. The idea that that sort of power would be used on a normal Hollow was ridiculous, and hearing that it had apparently been linked with what sounded like an effort to distract her friends made her less than pleased.

Ukitake shook his head. "Ishida- _san_ offered that it somewhat resembled the work of Quincy, but resembled _kidō_ just as much. He did not divulge more than that to Zennosuke- _san_. Urahara- _san_ has been likewise reticent to share more, either to Zennosuke…or to me."

Rukia frowned. "That's why I'm being sent."

"You have the most amicable relationship with most of the parties involved, making you the optimal candidate to conduct an investigation," Ukitake said. Although it wasn't the reason, it also wasn't a lie, and that was good enough for him.

" _Taichō_ , I will…definitely get to the bottom of this!" Rukia declared, looking Ukitake squarely in the eye.

Seeing her resolve and her anger at whomever or whatever had dared come near her friends, Ukitake smiled and nodded "I have no doubts that you will, Rukia. Since it's unclear at present how long you will be gone, please have your affairs in order and be ready to leave by dusk."

Rukia stood, replied "Yes, sir!" promptly, and immediately left the office with a determination about her Ukitake hadn't seen in a long time. That he hadn't seen for about fourteen months, to be precise. He allowed himself another smile. _Maybe it'll work out for the best_ , he thought.

* * *

Rukia had, despite each of their proclaimed desires for more share than the other, divided what pending work she couldn't finish in the next few hours up among Kiyone and Sentarō equally, and after warning them it had best be done when she returned—not that she knew when that would be—left them to it with all due haste before they began to make a competition out of it.

She had a small and fast lunch and finished the remainder of her work in just under three hours. There honestly wasn't that much for her to do in terms of preparing after that, as she didn't intend to carry any personal effects with her, so she busied herself with cleaning up her living space and putting it to order. She recognized it was just a distraction, but she preferred it to sitting idle, and felt her brother would approve of such a use of time, even if it was merely her apartment with the 13th Division's district. (She had asked for it upon taking the position of _fukutaichō_ and her brother had agreed it was befitting of her newfound station.)

Afterwards she was engaged in a simple but hearty dinner alone at one of the Shinigami cantinas (who knew what she'd be stuck with eating in the Living World?) when Renji sauntered in, easily spotting her. He came over to her table and sat down opposite her. As she was busy slurping noodles she didn't greet him, and could tell from the expression on his face he was there because he knew, not in spite of it.

"Heard you were being deployed to Karakura from Kuchiki- _taichō_ ," he offered at last, glancing to her. "From the fact you didn't tear up the 13th Division and leave immediately, I assume that guy is okay."

Rukia glared at her friend before kicking him in the shin, and then promptly finished the noodles she was working on before pushing the empty bowl to the center of the table. She wiped her mouth and closed her eyes for a moment. "That's not funny. I was told he's fine," she said, adding "They're all fine."

Renji gave a small smile, managing to conceal it from her before she opened her eyes again. She was entirely predictable in her own way. "I wonder if Ichigo even knows anything happened."

"Doubtful," she replied, "the last report I got said he was home sick and had been sleeping since early last night. His father's watching him just in case, in addition to Zennosuke." With that she began to quickly munch on a piece of _onigiri_.

Renji watched her for a moment before looking elsewhere, rubbing the back of his head. " _Taichō_ said he had nominated me to go, but felt he had no good comeback to Ukitake- _taichō_ 's counterproposal. To be honest though, I'm glad you were picked instead."

He could feel Rukia looking at him but said nothing in response, so at last she went "Eh?" to drive the point home.

Renji turned back to look at her, and just smiled genuinely. He knew if he said what he was really thinking a kick to the shins would be the least of his problems. Before she could demand clarification he leaned in conspiratorially and whispered "You didn't hear it from me, but before I left it seemed like he might be coming to see you off."

Rukia's eyes widened before she resumed eating twice as quickly. If her brother was coming then she wanted to be ready to leave promptly at the appointed time.

Renji stood and clasped her on the shoulder as she ate, his grip unusually strong on her lithe frame. She looked quizzically up at him with a mouth full of rice. He was looking at the door. "Don't wait too long to go see him," he said, before letting go and walking out. Rukia shot daggers from her eyes into his back as he went, fuming. _What is_ that _supposed to mean? Always teasing me when my mouth is full! Stupid Renji!_

He had a point though. She decided she would meet up with Ichigo the next day at the latest. It had been too long.

Rukia arrived at her appointed send-off by the divisional headquarters just as the sun was slipping below the buildings and walls of Seireitei. Ukitake was there with Sentarō and Kiyone, both of whom were for once were quiet, while across from them stood her brother, impeccable as always. His presence seemed to have scared the pair of 3rd Seats into silence. As she approached, his eyes tracked toward her, and he said merely "Rukia."

" _Nii-sama_ ," she replied with the smallest of smiles, inclining her head. She walked up to the group, faced her brother and said "You didn't have to take time away to see me off."

"It was only proper," he replied.

Her smile grew slightly and she nodded again, before turning to Ukitake. " _Taichō_ ," she said "I'm ready."

"Kiyone, if you would," replied Ukitake. Sentarō, for once, didn't object, and so Kiyone walked in front of Rukia and withdrew her _zanpakutō_ , using it to open a _senkaimon_.

Rukia drew herself up in preparation to walk through. She knew the other end would be right outside the Urahara Shop, but something still bothered her about the whole business.

Right before she stepped forward she heard her brother again. "Rukia," he said once more.

"Yes, _nii-sama_?" she replied, turning to him.

Her brother looked her directly in the eyes and reached out, resting a hand lightly on her shoulder. She kept herself still and calm under his touch. "Go with the grace of the Kuchiki clan," he said. With that he removed his hand, turned, and began to walk away.

She watched him for only a moment before whispering "Yes, _nii-sama_ ," with a newfound purpose, and immediately made her way into the _senkaimon_ , which sealed behind her.

* * *

She stepped out of the other set of doors into the dusty lot immediately outside the Urahara Shop. It was cold, but all things considered she didn't find herself bothered. It was sort of comforting in some ways, actually, and she could hear Sode no Shirayuki hum at it.

Both Urahara and Tessai stood in front of the doors waiting to meet her, flanked by Ururu and Jinta.

"Ah, Kuchiki- _san_ ," said Urahara, a holding up a fan dramatically to cover his mouth, "We've been waiting for you. You're right on time."

She immediately headed for them, not bothering with a greeting. "Tell me about this incident while I retrieve the _gigai_ you've prepared, and don't think that I will be as lax as Ukitake- _taichō_ was over the phone," she said sternly, walking past them all into the shop's interior.

Urahara and Tessai shared a look before following after her, and sighed, both knowing from her demeanor that engaging in their usual behavior would likely be very unproductive for their working relationship with her, to put it lightly. "Don't worry," Urahara said quietly, "I planned for this."

By the time they caught up she had already located the _gigai_ and shut the door to the room it was in, getting into it and dressing. They had given her clothing that was both acceptable and aesthetically pleasing considering the weather, and won a grudging reprieve by furnishing her with a Chappy-patterned scarf. She topped her ensemble off with it with only a small cheer and slid open the door to find Urahara waiting. "Don't think you can buy me off with just a scarf, you could've talked through the door," she said coolly.

Urahara held his hands up in supplication before gesturing to a _kotatsu_ set with tea.

Rukia moved to it and sat down, shortly followed by Urahara, who began to relate what he had felt more than anything, and what he'd been told by his employees. Yoruichi had not been present at the time, nor was she there now, and although he wouldn't say where she'd been or was, he was sure she had nothing extra to add in any case.

"You have nothing more to add than what you've said just now?" Rukia asked at last. She had learned little more than she had from her _taichō_.

Urahara sat silently for a moment in thought. At last he spoke: "It wasn't just drawing _reishi_ from the environment and turning it into _reiatsu_. It also managed to convert _kishi_ directly into _reishi_."

Rukia felt her heart skip a beat and her eyes widen in shock. "Are you telling me it was able to weaponize ordinary matter?"

Urahara nodded solemnly and looked at her, saying "We found evidence at the scene," before pulling a folder out from under the table. Opening it revealed several photographs of the park showing off the crater that had been produced. From its shape, it was clearly not an impact, and there was a long pier that went almost to the middle of it that was completely unaffected. One of the photos had Ururu standing on the pier for scale. It was about the width across of someone in an aggressive stance. Rukia frowned at that. "Someone was standing there," she said at last, tapping at one of the photos.

"Maybe," Urahara replied, his tone indicating he agreed but wouldn't commit to the conclusion. "What I do know is that the source of origin was definitely artificial."

Rukia could feel her eyes narrow. "What do you mean?"

"It was too 'clean'," Urahara continued, looking up at her from beneath his hat, "The _reiatsu_ was too ordered, there was no emotional content, none of the things that mark out the emissions of a living being, be it a soul, human, or otherwise."

"So it was something artificial held by someone…" Rukia said grimly.

"Kuchiki- _san_ ," started Urahara, "you should also know that by my estimate, compared to the total _reiatsu_ that would've been created by these processes, we only felt about half of it released in that beam. The other half simply disappeared." He was staring at her now with deadly seriousness as to what that might mean.

Rukia deliberately kept her gaze controlled and looked back at the photos, before slowly sipping her tea. They sat in silence for some minutes, before at last Rukia stood, saying "There are others I must question while their recollections are still good. I trust you've prepared a 'cellular phone' for me?"

Urahara held up a cell phone without looking up. Rukia took it and slid it into one of her coat's outer pockets, making her way back toward the outside door. She stopped as she made her way to the threshold of the room, saying "Urahara."

The man looked up at her, saying nothing.

"Thank you. You've been very helpful. I appreciate your honesty. I will return before the days change," she concluded, and with that she was gone.

Urahara listened to her go out the front door and turned to find Tessai standing beside him. The large man adjusted his glasses and said "I think she's taking after her brother."

"Let's hope not too much so," Urahara said quietly, flaring his fan over his mouth to hide a smirk.

* * *

Rukia had called Inoue first. Even though she, along with Chad and Ishida, must surely have been aware of the moment she arrived, the girl had been completely ecstatic and demanded to meet up with her immediately. Rukia assented after only moderate badgering, and had allowed Inoue to pick a tea shop in Mashiba that was relatively central to the four of them. Inoue had told Rukia she would call Chad and Ishida to come meet with them. What she had not told her was that she gave them a time that was 15 minutes later than the time she agreed upon, because she wanted to catch up one-on-one.

Rukia arrived at the tea shop at the same time as Inoue and was nearly tackled by the teenager on sight, who gave her an enormous hug. "Ah, Kuchiki- _san_ , it's been so long! Oh, your hair, it looks great! That scarf is so cute! How are you? What's going on in Soul Society?" she had begun before belting out a dozen more questions.

Rukia only managed to get a word in edgewise in response and so was at last forced, laughing to hide her consternation, to pry Inoue off of her. "Inoue, there's—there's plenty of time for questions, let's get inside, yeah?"

"Oh, yeah, it is rather cold out, isn't it?" Inoue said, puffs of steam coming from her, before practically dragging Rukia inside. Inoue immediately led her to a table for four and ordered a rather bizarre combination of blackberry and mint-chocolate flavored black tea which left Rukia protesting she'd already had some at the Urahara Shop.

"Are you staying there during your time here?" Inoue asked, before smacking a fist into an open palm "I know! You could stay with me!"

Rukia chuckled at the idea more in fear than in good humor and tried to wave it off "No, no, I couldn't possibly burden you like that—"

" _Ne_ , Kuchiki- _san_ ," said Inoue, suddenly much more serious, for her anyway, "You haven't met with Kurosaki- _kun_ yet, have you?

Rukia looked up at Inoue at that, seeing concern in her big brown eyes. Renji's advice echoed in her mind without warning. She figured Inoue could tell from monitoring her _reiatsu_ where she had been, but answered anyway: "No, I won't see him until tomorrow. There's a lot to do tonight."

Through Inoue's eyes she could almost see the gears in the girl's head turn, and then it was like a light clicked on. " _Tomorrow_ …? Are you getting him something for Valentine's Day?!" she asked with glee. The look on Inoue's face was easily amongst the happiest Rukia had ever seen her and that made her more scared than a weapon that could turn _kishi_ into _reishi_ or the thought of possibly enduring Inoue's cooking for what could be weeks.

"Ah hah," Rukia muttered, rubbing the back of her head before going "Um, what's…Valentine's Day?" She realized she was falling back into using her schoolgirl voice.

"You don't know!?" Inoue said in shock, blinking.

Rukia laughed nervously and shook her head. She had never been in the Living World for it.

A gleam shot through Inoue's eyes and she lifted a hand, pointer finger aloft, in one of her rarest expressions: a professorial one. "Valentine's Day is the day when women give chocolate to the men in their lives; either _giri-choco_ for men that they respect and have social obligation to, or _honmei-choco_ for their true loves, be they lovers, boyfriends, fiancés, or husbands! Then, next month, on March 14th, the man is obliged to return a similar gift!"

"Ah,' Rukia said, not entirely understanding what this had to do with her.

Inoue looked at her completely incredulously. "You have to get Kurosaki- _kun_ chocolate for when you see him tomorrow!" she said, nodding at herself, her expression firm and unyielding on the point.

Rukia found herself laughing much more nervously this time "Um, how is the man supposed to know whether the chocolate is _giri-choco_ or _honmei-choco_?"

"Usually _honmei-choco_ is homemade, but really," Inoue stated with another huge smile, "he just will!"

Rukia continued laughing as she felt herself break out into a sweat. Fortunately, it was at that moment that Ishida and Chad entered the tea shop. They had hustled and were early.

"Sado- _kun_ , Ishida- _kun_ , over here!" Inoue waved excitedly to them. Chad and Ishida shared a glance, as Rukia and Inoue were the only other people in the shop and it only had four tables. Without a word, both walked over and sat down.

"Kuchiki- _san_ ," both smiled and said by way of greeting. "It's been awhile," Ishida added, to which Chad only nodded.

"It's good to see both of you again," Rukia said with a genuine smile. She was surprised in that moment to see how much mature the three of them looked already, and had to fight away wonder at how Ichigo must look. A few seconds passed as they all sat together before she indulged herself and asked "How is Ichigo doing?"

Ishida coughed, Chad grunted, and Inoue drank her tea too quickly, prompting her to wave at her scalded tongue "Iht hurth!"

Rukia raised an eyebrow at their reactions.

Ishida immediately spoke up "Kurosaki came in late today around lunch. Apparently his father had called him in as being sick before school had started, but he seemed to be in good spirits—better than usual." He didn't explain, figuring she would catch his meaning; he was, typically enough, too subtle.

"He has glasses now," Chad said without any further explanation.

"Eh?!" Rukia said in disbelief, picturing Ichigo wearing stereotypical, thick, circular, coke-bottle glasses. She laughed harder than she had in ages at the thought.

"They're more like sunglasses than anything. Silver frames, yellow lenses, very modern fashion. He had a prescription and said they were for eye-strain. He only started wearing them the other day." Ishida added.

Inoue turned to Rukia and grabbed one of her wrists for a moment, saying "They looth tho cool!" with total belief in it. Chad nodded again in agreement. Ishida pushed his own glasses up. They shared the renewed camaraderie in silence for a minute.

She noticed they hadn't told her how he had been for anything more than the immediate past, but put it aside. Although she didn't want to ruin the moment, she had no choice. "You know why I'm really here," Rukia said at last, letting her tone get more businesslike.

"Yes," they all said at once, their own tones serious, before they started to recount events in turn.


	6. 1-06: Prelude to Rendezvous

**A/N: We go somewhat back in time to the end of Chapter 4 and bring it forward to line up with the end of Chapter 5. Thank you to Lightningblade49 for the reviews, and thank you to everyone who's favorited and followed, as well as all you other readers out there!**

 ** _Bleach_ and all products thereof are copyright to Tite Kubo, et al.**

* * *

 **Thursday, February 13, 2003**

Ichigo arrived at his school's roof during the last quarter-hour of lunch. He could both sense and see that was where Chad, Ishida, and Inoue were, while everyone else had congregated down below on the school grounds beneath a tree. It didn't take much to guess why they had split off: they were discussing the previous night.

He put on his best ticked-off face before opening the door to the roof itself and shoving himself through it, muttering "Sorry I'm late, I was sick with something or other," as if irritated that someone would dare to care about his physical health.

Ishida and Inoue seemed to jump at his sudden appearance, while Chad only jerked his head up in surprise. The reaction was enough to confirm what he'd thought had been going on. "K—Kurosaki- _kun_! It's good to see you're feeling better!" Inoue suddenly exclaimed, laughing. Chad nodded and grunted in agreement.

"You had everyone worried there, Kurosaki," said Ishida. There was something about the way he was looking at Ichigo that made the orange-haired teen feel he was being analyzed.

Ichigo countered by tilting his head to one side with a give-me-a-break look "It's nothing, it's not like I'm about to fall apart or something!"

Ishida's eyes narrowed slightly and he could feel the _reiatsu_ of all three tense, could see it happen in the glasses. _I see_ , he thought, thinking back to his first meeting with Alan, _this is what that guy was talking about_. _How did I not notice it before?_ _Is this what it's been like the whole time?_

"Anyway, where's Tatsuki and everyone else?" Ichigo asked, looking around as if he didn't know.

"Eh…we're really worried about the first test that's coming up in Literature so we split up to do some studying," Inoue said.

Chad added "That's right."

 _Have they always been this bad at lying?!_ Ichigo shouted inside, feeling one of his eyes twitch. "I—Ishida, _you_ feel worried about a Literature test?"

The Quincy, with visible difficulty both physically and spiritually, pulled himself to one side and clenched a fist, looking up at the sky before stating "…It's scary."

Ichigo could hear the wind howl and very obviously pulled out his phone to look at the time, saying "Right, well, lunch is ending, so let's get to class" to bring the ridiculous theater to an end. With that they all went back inside and went to their classroom.

He fended off questions regarding his health and once he was sure he wasn't on the receiving end of much attention, engaged in _jinzen_ to access his inner world. He had felt, more than anything else, Zangetsu and the Hollow in his conscience, although neither had said a word to him since he'd woken up. There was no sign of Tensa Zangetsu or his Hollowfied form.

He found himself on the side of a skyscraper as usual. Looking down at where the streets would be he saw they were flooded, but not to a great depth. Looking up, there were only a few wispy clouds. There was no sign of anyone else.

As he was remembering how to even go about searching, he felt a presence, and even as he was turning around heard Zangetsu's gravelly tones greet him with "Ichigo."

"Zangetsu," Ichigo replied. They stood looking at one another. Ichigo smiled slightly, "You don't seem surprised."

"I am not," the entity said.

" **Hate to break up the reunion, King, but you can't be forgetting me,** " his Hollow said, stepping out from behind Zangetsu's billowing cape.

"If only I could," Ichigo replied, a look of disgust on his face.

" **Aw, don't be like that,** " the Hollow replied, waving a finger, " **Think of all the fun times we'll get to have in the future.** "

" _Tch_ , anyway, I just wanted to make sure things were alright in here. Later, Zangetsu," he said, and disappeared as suddenly as he had arrived.

Although he'd been addressing the older man and not his inverted double, it was the Hollow who replied " **Yeah, see you later too, King!** " After a moment he halfway turned to Zangetsu, a smirk on his face, saying " **He suspects.** "

"That may be so," replied Zangetsu, but they both knew it. Ichigo had seen the blue lines feeding into him from the Morning Star just as clearly as the red, yellow, and white ones. Even the King wasn't so bad at color theory as to not know that fuchsia was what you got when you mixed red and blue. Add yellow and white in equal proportion and you'd get a rather eerie looking purple, but he'd figure that out soon enough.

" **I've only been trying to tell him since _forever!_** " the Hollow said in sudden irritation, ignoring Zangetsu staring into the distance. " **Don't be so mopey,** " the Hollow murmured, " **at this rate we might even get to see the Queen again soon.** "

Zangetsu looked up at the sky. Perhaps it was so. The rain had once again stopped.

* * *

Ichigo made it through the rest of the school day without incident and went on his way to work without haste, dialing Alan's number once he was about halfway there from the school. He walked as it rang. It only did so twice.

"So, you have a decision to make now. Several decisions, actually," Alan said immediately, as if their conversation had already begun.

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked. He didn't bother commenting on the man's poor phone etiquette as it wasn't surprising in the least.

There was a pause on the other end, then "I took the liberty of encrypting your cell phone when I modified it, and given your age I don't feel bad about saying this: your first decision is whether you want to walk away. You can give me back the 'homework', take what you have now, and work at getting back to how things were with you and Soul Society. Given the timing, several people will probably be able to connect the dots, but only about three people will have all the pieces and could see the whole picture, and the two that matter have a vested interest in keeping you on their side. Ichigo Kurosaki regaining his powers could just be yet another mystery in a story filled with them. Meanwhile, I write you off as a sunk-cost and move on, and we probably never interact again. What you know isn't worth starting anything over. Japan is fairly peaceful, and Soul Society is relatively self-regulating."

Ichigo didn't bother to think who those three would be, although he could guess. "Probably?" he asked in a way that wasn't really a question. He added "Fairly?" and "Relatively?" to that, calling out the man's qualifiers. "The way you say all of that, I don't feel very confident in it," he said. A frown sat upon his face. He had read enough already that he had some idea why Alan was qualifying his words so heavily.

"I can't promise anything, and really, there's nothing to promise," Alan replied. His voice had been flat the entire conversation, but it was somehow becoming more so. It reminded Ichigo of watching the surface of a pond become completely still.

"If I don't get stronger, there's nothing to say that something worse than Aizen doesn't come and knock over Soul Society one day, and I can't do anything about it, yeah? Or maybe, by the time I can, a whole lot of people get hurt?" Ichigo asked, again not framing it as an actual question.

There was silence on the other end.

"I don't walk away from things," Ichigo stated. There was steel in his words that carried over the phone.

"Then you have a different decision to make," Alan resumed, "Which is when and how you inform Soul Society of your new status—if you do at all. There are little to no conflicts between working with them and working with us: you could probably do both at the same time while they were none the wiser without issue."

Ichigo found himself remembering Byakuya laying on Sōkyoku Hill after Aizen's reveal, the man forlornly relating "…I made two vows that I should not have made…" and closed his eyes. His memory shifted to the day after he had first become a Shinigami, of Rukia demanding his commitment to their rules. He had said "At the very least…I…will be different!" to her then. He let those words ring in his mind before opening his eyes. Had anyone of a spiritual inclination been watching him they would've seen them flash a cold blue. "I will definitely inform them," he said.

"I see," Alan replied, and Ichigo sensed that placid surface stir from…amusement? "And you'll do that no matter what it changes, hmm?"

"Nothing that actually matters will change," Ichigo stated, staring straight ahead of him, as if looking through the entire world.

Somehow he could suddenly practically see Alan's smile, but it didn't bother him. "I understand. In that case," Alan started, only to sigh as if in disbelief, his tone becoming like that of an exasperated friend, "I guess I have no choice but to help you out!"

Ichigo glanced sideways at the phone at that. "What does that mean?" he asked. He was by now in the lot immediately in front of the Unagiya Shop.

"Don't worry about it for now," Alan vocally waved it off, "You should instead be thinking about exactly how you're going to tell her!"

Ichigo's eyes narrowed and he was about to ask who when a wave of familiar _reiatsu_ flowed over him and he found himself instinctually turning toward what he knew was the direction of the Urahara Shop. "Rukia…!" he muttered, in shock.

"Have fun, but have the contract done by Saturday afternoon," Alan said far too cheerily, adding "Bye-bye!" before terminating the call.

Ichigo scarcely noticed and let the arm he'd been holding the phone up with drop to his side, for a moment just basking in the sensation of Rukia's familiar presence. Although he would never admit it, he was happy at how much stronger she seemed. He had never been good at sensing _reiatsu_ on the fly, and at this distance, Urahara, Tessai, Jinta, and Ururu would all be faint in his perception, but Rukia stood out like the moon against a starry sky. He could hardly sense anyone else at all next to her. He could feel his legs suddenly start as if to take him in her direction, and forced himself to remain where he was. He hated himself for waiting even one second, yet knew it was the right thing to do for the moment.

His brain caught up to his instincts a second later, the parts coming together like a schematic. He had long since figured out Alan had arranged the distraction of his friends, and while he didn't like that, he had forgiven Ishida for worse and the man seemed to have an infinitely finer control over matters than the Quincy had once upon a time. From his appearance earlier in the day, he was willing to grant that Alan had probably arranged it such that there was never any actual danger to anyone. The whole thing had once again been a piece of theater for his benefit.

The discharge of the Morning Star would have inevitably drawn Soul Society's attention, but it coupled with what appeared to be a coordinated attack would force their hand. They would've picked someone to investigate. Since that kind of decision would fall to the _taichō_ , they would have argued about whom to send. He shoved a mental image of the exchange that must have occurred away and concluded this was Ukitake's doing. Sending Rukia just fit once that was assumed.

If Rukia was here to investigate what happened, it really meant that she was here to investigate him, she just didn't know it yet. And likewise, he shouldn't know she was here yet. He could go to her immediately, but he knew it had to be under a different circumstance. He had to get things in order and do it responsibly. By his figuring, she would seek him out, probably tomorrow, and he would be ready by then.

All of that being deducible by him, Alan must surely have planned for this as well, in which case the odd conversation they had just had must also have been some kind of test. Ichigo found he hadn't yet decided if the man reminded him more of Urahara or Aizen. For the moment, it didn't matter. "Rukia…" he began with conviction, both to himself and to that distant comforting _reiatsu_ , "I will…definitely tell you!"

"Tell what to whom?" said a woman's voice from behind him. Its tone was terrifying.

Ichigo almost jumped out of his own body and whirled around to find Ikumi standing at the top of the stairs, leaning against the shop entrance's door frame. Her eyes gleamed with an ominous look in the shadows and colors of the setting sun, and Ichigo felt a pit in his stomach form at the sight.

"Ichigo- _chan_ , you…" Ikumi began, before she stood up fully and looked down at him with a wicked and knowing smile, clenching a fist in front of her, "Are you really about to become a true man and confess your feelings to a girl on Valentine's Day?!"

Ichigo's roar of "Shut up!" could be heard from several blocks away and set all the neighborhood dogs to barking.

* * *

Rukia had allowed her friends to walk her back to the Urahara Shop with only modest protest once it had become clear they wouldn't take no for an answer. They engaged in mostly idle chatter and jokes as they went, and she couldn't help but notice how often they seemed to come back to the subject of Ichigo. His absence was telling, and it reflected in a general subdued melancholy.

She was feeling out of sorts by the time they arrived and actually gave each of them a hug before entering the shop. "We'll catch up again more soon!" she said, with the tone of a promise.

All of them nodded and made their own affirmations, and so she shut the door.

"It's not quite the same when the gang isn't all there, is it?" Urahara asked quietly from some dark corner of the room.

Rukia shot a glare at where his voice had come from but said nothing. She exhaled and went to the room they'd set aside for her, changing into pajamas and flopping onto the futon that had been set out, alone with her thoughts. She closed her eyes and turned the facts that Chad, Inoue, and Ishida had provided her around in her mind, examining them before starting to put them together with everything else she already knew. She was convinced from what they'd told her that the Hollows had been a distraction to hold their attention, not an actual attack.

If that was so, then where the _reiatsu_ discharge had come from had actually been the main event, but using that kind of power to kill a single Hollow made no sense. That, combined with the missing _reiatsu_ , made it clear that the discharge itself was also in some ways a distraction. The real purpose of what had occurred must have been to gather _reiatsu_. And given someone had been there, there was only one logical place as to where it had gone. But to what end? And how had the Hollows been so precisely corralled?

She sighed as her mind wandered at the dead end, becoming focused on the absence of Ichigo's _reiatsu_. It wasn't so noticeable in Soul Society, but here in Karakura, where it should be but wasn't, it felt like an enormous void. She opened her eyes partway and whispered "Ichigo…what are you doing right now, I wonder?" before crawling under the covers, forcing herself to go to sleep.

* * *

Ichigo sat on his bed with his desk light on, methodically working his way through the contract paperwork folder with grim determination. It was essentially just a very large list of threats about what would happen if he did the wrong things or didn't do the right things in the view of the United States government, coupled with expounding on his resultant obligations to the same. There had been a notice at the front that due to the extenuating circumstances of his nationality most of it wasn't really enforceable legally.

He knew a formality when he saw one. It was clear to him that Nightmare Eclipse didn't really play by these rules. Alan had already demonstrated that to him in his own way. If he had some minor screw-ups he would probably be able to explain his way out of them and if he had some major ones, well…he just wouldn't let it come to that, and if they happened anyway, he would deal with them then.

Even so, he read what it all said and signed his name, initials, and date as required on each of the pages. He found it increasingly odd as he went that despite having been told that Nightmare Eclipse was a "joint operation," between the American services, the paperwork was written as if it was a US Air Force contract. He chalked it up as being like the rivalries between the Divisions of the Gotei 13.

He came at last to the final section which enumerated and detailed entitlements and benefits and was mildly surprised at the generosity after all the doom and gloom that had preceded it. He stopped suddenly as he found himself forced to re-read a section over and over again. The entry "Acting-Rank: E-5 (Staff Sergeant)" didn't really mean much to him, nor did "Acting-Pay Grade: O-1 (1st/2nd Lieutenant)" but the line that followed, "Monthly Salary: $2,183.70 (approx. ¥260,870)" certainly did.

There was a post-it note below which read, in hand-written Japanese, "Since you're still in high school they wouldn't agree to an acting-officer rank. I had to twist some arms to get the pay grade as high as it is; contractors usually make a lot more. Anyway, I figure you'll be amenable to it."

Ichigo just pointed and stammered at the idea of making a quarter-million Yen a month for a minute before finishing the rest of the forms with redoubled speed. At last he closed the completed folder and called Alan, only looking at the time after dialing: it was 11:37 PM.

"What?" asked an irritated voice from the other end of the line.

Ichigo smirked at having annoyed the man, considering it payback for being woken up the night previous. "I completed your paperwork," he said with satisfaction.

"Put it on the window sill, I'll pick it up now," the voice replied, suddenly much more sanguine and…surprised?

"Eh?" Ichigo asked.

"Just do it," Alan said, hanging up.

Ichigo looked over at the window and back down at the folder and sighed before placing the latter against the former. With that he got up to brush his teeth before bed. By the time he returned the folder was gone. "Creepy," was all he could think to say. A yawn suddenly overwhelmed him and he turned out the light, determined to get as much sleep as he could.

* * *

 **Friday, February 14, 2003**

Rukia was awoken by a soft but insistent knocking on the door frame to her room, along with the occasional utterance of "Kuchiki- _dono_." She sat up, recognizing the voice as Tessai's, and after discerning it was morning from the sunlight filtering through a window, murmured "Ah?" groggily.

"There is a visitor here to see you," Tessai replied, before she could hear him stand and walk away.

Rukia yawned and stretched before rising, wrapping a blanket around herself to ward against the cold and going to the door. She slid it open partially and stuck her head out into the foyer the room adjoined. There, sitting at the _kotatsu_ , in a lime green coat and cap, bundled up in a scarf and woolen tights, all over her school uniform, was Inoue, sipping at a cup of tea. She lifted her head at hearing the door and turned to face Rukia, smiling and waving.

Rukia stared before pulling out her cell phone, looking at the time it displayed. As sweetly as she could she asked "Inoue, why are you here at 7:12 AM?"

"We have to go shopping for chocolate!" Inoue said in a loud whisper, looking about conspiratorially before adding "It'll be suspicious if I miss more than the first two classes!" Rukia felt a sudden intense weariness as though something inside her had just broken. Knowing the girl would not be dissuaded and not wanting to disappoint her after she'd made such an effort, she simply sighed and said "Okay," and turned to go to the bathroom that had been set aside for her use in order to quickly get clean and dressed.

* * *

It had been somewhat over half an hour since Rukia had left when Jinta and Ururu began their usual task of sweeping up the lot outside the Urahara Shop. It was early, and both were still focused on the job when they heard the telltale crunch of shoes on dirt and looked up.

A man stood before them, dressed in a strange dark blue suit neither had ever seen before. There were several silver devices on the shoulder straps and breast of his jacket, and on the left side a large and colorful panel of ribbons featured prominently. Opposite, on the right, was a polished name tag reading "Hayward." He had lapel pins on either side of his collar that read "U.S." Beneath the jacket was a light-blue dress shirt and dark blue tie. He wore black aviator sunglasses beneath a dark blue round cap that had thundercloud and lightning iconography on its black shiny brim, carried a black leather attaché case, and was wearing similarly colored shoes and a silver-looking watch. His posture was commanding, but not rigid. He seemed to regard them languidly.

They found themselves staring at him in confusion before he gave them a smile that showed off unusually white teeth and lifted his free hand to remove the sunglasses, revealing bright blue eyes. "Excuse me," he said, "is Kisuke Urahara available?"


	7. 1-07: Death & Strawberry 2B

**A/N: Thank you to** **Jackofalltrades32456, and Vizual-Era for the new reviews,** **Lightningblade49 for continuing reviews, and thank you to everyone who's favorited and followed, as well as all you other readers out there!**

 ** _Bleach_ and all products thereof are copyright to Tite Kubo, et al.**

* * *

 **Friday, February 14, 2003**

By 7:56 AM, Rukia and Inoue were already in their third convenience store in pursuit of the latter's determined efforts to get the former to acquire chocolate. Most of the supplies had already long-since been picked over, everyone else having rather sensibly bought their gifts before the day itself had arrived. The odd pair were the only ones that were obviously conducting a last minute search.

Rukia had protested at Inoue's assertion that she would buy the sought-after chocolate, but the teenager had made it clear that she would not take no for an answer on the subject. She was likewise clearly not looking for something to buy herself, which made Rukia suspicious.

They left the convenience store and Inoue declared without a hint of lost morale "Don't worry, Kuchiki- _san_ , some of the department stores will be open by now, and they'll have a way bigger selection!" Inoue had told Rukia that she had heard from Yuzu that Ichigo preferred bittersweet chocolate over both milk chocolate and dark chocolate, and it was proving hard to find something that matched.

As she was being practically dragged to the nearest department store, Rukia felt her heart growing increasingly heavier from the enterprise. It didn't make sense to her. "Inoue," Rukia started after they were halfway there.

"Mmm," Inoue replied, before facing the petite Shinigami, "yes, Kuchiki- _san_?"

Rukia hesitated at her cheery expression and looked down, taking a moment to steel herself, before asking with a tone of genuine disbelief "Why…are you doing this?" She found she couldn't bear to look at her friend's face. _Am I still…such a coward?_

She watched wrists come up and rest on the girl's hourglass hips, palms facing outward. "What do you mean?" said Inoue's voice, only a fraction less happily.

"Why are you…don't you like Ichigo?!" Rukia finally managed to snap, her tone becoming harsh at the end, surprising even herself. In the aftermath there were no other sounds around them, like the world had muted itself with her utterance. She watched as after a pause Inoue's open hands clamped into fists, the girl's _reiatsu_ drawing up. She felt her eyes widen involuntarily at both. _Now I've done it_ , she thought, feeling a growing dread. She braced herself for whatever was to come.

Nothing did. Ages seemed to pass as Inoue simply held her pose, not moving a single muscle. Finally, finally Rukia saw some kind of motion, felt a pair of wrists move across her shoulders as if going for her neck. She didn't resist. She would take whatever came from her friend on this subject.

Rukia was shocked enough to gasp as suddenly the world unfroze itself. Inoue had leaned forward and put her arms around Rukia's neck and upper back, head beside hers, hugging her. _What_ … Neither said anything for some time, the tawny-haired girl just holding the raven-haired one. Rukia found herself too shocked to move.

"Kuchiki- _san_ ," Inoue eventually said by Rukia's ear. Her voice was soft and compassionate but unwavering, accompanied by small puffs of steam that were surprisingly warm, "I do like Kurosaki- _kun_. Ah, I've liked him more and more the more I've gotten to know him…" She trailed off for a moment before resuming, a certain sweetness coming into her tone, "But what that really means is, is that I want Kurosaki- _kun_ to be happy. And…he hasn't been happy for over a year, no matter what I or anyone else does. He hasn't been happy since…the last time he saw you, Kuchiki- _san_." It felt to Rukia that something else went unsaid then but Inoue continued on, "I think seeing you will make him happy. I think spending time with you will make him happy, and so…I'll help in any way I can. Besides…you're my friend too."

"Inoue…" Rukia muttered, staring sideways at the wisps of richly-colored hair she could see in wide-eyed disbelief. Renji's final words to her before she had left once again replayed in her mind, hitting her this time like a lightning bolt. _No way_ , she said to herself. _No way, it's like they all think that I—that we—that Ichigo and I…_

"It's okay," Inoue continued, lightly rubbing Rukia's upper back in reassurance. The teenager let out a soft sigh, saying "You're both such proud people and sometimes…no, I think that's part of why..."

Rukia grappled internally with what had just happened and, finding some purchase, forcefully reasserted control over her emotions. "'Why'?... _Ne_ , Inoue, what—what are you trying to say?" she said, forcing incredulity into it, chuckling softly in a chiding way.

Inoue pulled her arms back to rest her hands on Rukia's shoulders and stood, looking down at the Shinigami with a mature, knowing smile. Rukia found herself in some degree of awe at the surprising sight, but tried to force a Kuchiki look-of-disdain onto her face. Whatever she managed just made Inoue tilt her head and giggle, letting go of Rukia's shoulders. "Come on," Inoue said, turning, "We still have to find you something!"

Rukia found she couldn't help but smile softly at the girl's back and proceeded after her with only a moment's delay, "So who are you giving chocolate, and what kind?" Rukia asked with sudden boldness as they continued along.

Inoue blushed slightly and lifted a hand to wag a finger, admonishing "Kuchiki- _san_ , you can't just ask someone something like that out of the blue!"

Rukia felt a vein suddenly throb on her forehead and twitched an eye, "You—you just…!"

Inoue rubbed the back of her head and laughed nervously at her friend's aggravation.

* * *

Karin walked around the last corner between her and the Urahara Shop and caught sight of Ururu and Jinta, marching up toward them with purpose. She had only a limited timeframe between eating breakfast and getting to school to get what she needed from Urahara. Yuzu had known almost since she'd started and at any rate didn't ask questions, dad probably knew but hadn't said anything, and her brother was clueless. That was the way she liked it and that was the way it was going to stay, and so she wouldn't allow the strange shopkeeper to make her late.

"Um, there's someone already inside," Ururu offered weakly as Karin strode by, not hearing her. Jinta, for his part, just watched, having made the calculation it was still way too early in the morning to deal with the girl's wrath.

Karin slid open the shop door, exclaiming "Urahara! I'm running late, I just need the usual things!"

Tessai appeared in the open doorway at the back of the store area that separated it from the rooms further inside, adjusting his glasses "Ah, Kurosaki- _dono_ , unfortunately, the _tenchō_ is busy helping—"

"It's okay, Tessai," said Urahara's voice, the man himself appearing at the other side of the doorway. He was covering his mouth with his fan as he spoke, adding "Our guest has been unusually direct and I believe we have already concluded our business today."

Tessai nodded and disappeared from the doorway as a new voice, a deeper male one Karin had never heard before, replied "That's correct." The unidentified man appeared then further into the room, and Karin could see he was clothed in some sort of dark blue military uniform. She didn't know exactly what country's it was, but the look of it coupled with his bright blue eyes very quickly marked out to her that the man wasn't Japanese, although he spoke it flawlessly.

The man moved up to the doorway and added "You'll have everything ready by tomorrow morning, I trust?"

"Yes," Urahara replied without emotion. It was then that Karin noticed that he was looking straight at her even as he spoke to the other man. The look in his eyes was unreadable. She felt a chill creep up her spine.

"In that case…sorry about the short notice," the foreigner added with what seemed like contrition. Urahara said nothing, and so the other man made for the still-open front door of the shop. As he came up in front of Karin he stopped and looked down at her. Karin found her gaze shift from Urahara's eyes to the military man's as if drawn by some sort of force. Her view slid across one of the pins reading "U.S." on his lapels before meeting his eyes. In them she saw something that looked for all the world like total recognition. He smiled faintly and said simply "Miss," in what was clearly American-accented English, then walked past her, putting on a cap before he stepped outside.

She watched him as he went, putting on a pair of aviators shortly after he had made it fully outside, and she involuntarily shuddered. Besides his appearance the man had no _reiatsu_ or anything to him at all that marked him out as being anything other than an ordinary man, but it was as if…

"So, will it be the Zetavoltan, the Spirepel X, and the Nobackpainu Alpha as usual, Kurosaki- _san_?" Urahara asked conversationally, although there was no humor or cheer in it. She slowly turned back to him and found his stare unchanged.

* * *

It was 8:45 by the time Rukia and Inoue had finally found chocolate that Rukia was satisfied with, and since Inoue was already late and had gotten up so early on her behalf, Rukia had demanded they stop for breakfast. They had gone to a small nearby restaurant that wasn't too expensive, and were presently ordering, Rukia picking _tamagoyaki_ and Inoue asking for _miso_ soup with honey and soy sauce.

"And then Neo is running along the wall with a gun in either hand going _pewpewpew_ and the pillars everywhere are exploding in slow motion and—" Inoue continued, recounting the events of _The Matrix_ for Rukia blow by blow. She was incredibly excited that its sequels were coming out later in the year and after they had finished shopping it had been the first thing she'd brought up. When Rukia revealed she'd never seen it (nor even heard of it), Inoue had immediately begun describing the movie in exacting if not entirely clear detail.

"Um, so why did Neo go to this imaginary building again?" Rukia asked. She hadn't entirely understood the concept of virtual reality with the way Inoue had covered it and was having difficulty keeping up.

"To rescue his friend Morpheus!" Inoue replied. "Like when we had to go to Soul Society to get you, except in the end they break him out with a helicopter with a minigun on it!" she said.

Rukia laughed at her friend's excitement despite not knowing what either a helicopter or minigun was, only to be surprised when Inoue suddenly produced a drawing of the bridge that led to the Senzaikyū being strafed by a helicopter gunship flown by Ganju, the gun manned by Ishida, and herself, Ichigo, Chad, and Yoruichi at the other end of the bridge in kung-fu poses. All six, without fail, wore sunglasses and black trench coats. The guards were jumping off to avoid the bullets. "We would definitely have gotten there way quicker," Inoue said with conviction, nodding at herself.

Rukia felt a sweatdrop form at the back of her head and hurriedly agreed to see the movie at some point in an effort to redirect the conversation as they finished up breakfast.

Once they had paid, she walked Inoue to school and promised, despite lingering reservations, to hang out with her and Tatsuki over the weekend. In the end the girl was only 45 minutes late, which shouldn't have been too big a problem.

Totting the bag that held her new gift for Ichigo, she went to visit the site of the _reiatsu_ discharge, only to find the crater there had already been filled up by Karakura's municipal workers. There was, at any rate, nothing suspicious to be found within the park no matter how thoroughly she investigated it. She did notice an odd piece of bright orange plastic she couldn't identify in some bushes, but the only thing that marked it out was its presence; it was highly unusual to find litter in Japan.

Satisfied there was nothing further to be learned from the place and that she could attest to that officially, she went to question Zennosuke and Isshin.

The former had nothing to add that she hadn't heard already, and practically groveled at the feet of his _fukutaichō_ when she brought up Ishida's criticism of his performance. She mentally modeled herself after her brother in that moment and sternly instructed him to train and better apply himself, which he swore up and down that he would do, and so she went on her way.

She arrived at the Kurosaki Clinic at about noon, catching Isshin on his lunch break, and was warmly welcomed by him. For once he seemed to be on his best behavior. He likewise had nothing of substance to add to what she already knew. She chose then to share her suspicions with the former _taichō_ , finding he had arrived at a similar conclusion as she had, but had likewise run up against the same dead end. They postulated at that, but it came to nothing, and so she cordially left once his break was over.

She took to wandering about town for a bit to reminisce and think before heading back to Karakura High School.

* * *

Her business for the day done, Rukia sat in a tree near the front gate of the school, mulling over her work and daydreaming while waiting for Ichigo to finish with classes. It hadn't been her intent to ambush him, exactly, but as she had thought about it more it was clearly what had to be done. At last the final bell rang, and she sat up alertly, looking for any sign of that familiar orange hair. The vast bulk of the student body filtered out beneath and before her over the next few minutes and she found herself growing irritable at Ichigo's absence. _What's keeping him?_

She was about to abandon her plan and begin to search him out when she saw him strolling toward the gate across the now empty schoolyard. She waited until she was relatively out of view to his side and dropped out of the tree, stealthily moving up behind him. Once she was a couple meters away she abruptly declared "I can't believe that Inoue was right, but those glasses really do look kinda cool…Ichigo."

He seemed to freeze at her voice before looking over his shoulder. It struck her as oddly restrained but once she saw the light in his eyes she could tell the act for what it was. "Yo, Rukia," he said in response, smirking.

"Miss me?" she asked, smiling and slowly walking up to him. She found herself marveling internally at what less than two years had done in terms of maturing his look, even as he still acted the same.

He fully turned to face her and grinned, saying "Like a cold."

"Fool," she said with a laugh. They stood less than a meter apart, just looking at each other.

"So, what brings you back all of a sudden?" Ichigo asked.

"I just couldn't stand to be apart from you, Ichigo," Rukia said in the schoolgirl voice she knew he loathed, teasing him, before wagging a finger and saying "Work," normally.

"Ah," Ichigo replied. He didn't visibly react to that, but smirked at her again "Are you sure it wasn't the first answer? Your timing is oddly suspicious."

"Oh dear, you found me out," she said once more with the annoying innocent act, lifting an arm to cover her face, "I have to flee before my pure maiden's heart is broken!"

"I like what you've done with your hair," Ichigo said simply, his smile back to normal.

Rukia dropped her arm and pointed at his nose, saying "Flattery will get you nowhere," before producing a gift-wrapped box with her other hand and holding it out to him. "For you," she said.

Ichigo blinked and took the box curiously at first, before his smile twisted again to tease, "Should I ask which this is supposed to be?"

"Inoue said a man would simply know," Rukia said imperiously, giving him that dour Kuchiki look. It was clear she had been practicing her brother's expressions.

Ichigo laughed at that and said merely "I see," and looked down from her for a moment, before bringing his eyes back up to meet hers. There was a certain firmness to them now, though they still regarded her exceedingly kindly. "Rukia," he said, his voice sincere, "do you trust me?"

Rukia felt a coy smile tug at her lips. "What kind of question is that, you fool?" They had been through far too much together for him to ever need to ask such a thing.

"Do you trust me?" he repeated in the exact same tone, his eyes not moving a millimeter.

Her eyes narrowed as her smiled faded. The change in the mood was palpable. "Of course," she said without skipping a beat, returning his look.

In the corner of her eye she could see him slowly bring his right hand toward her left one. She didn't move away but looked down, muttering "…Ichigo…" as she watched in disbelief.

It was the soft way that he said "Be ready," that drew her eyes back up to meet his in surprise as his hand clasped hers all at once.

Her mouth opened in shock as suddenly, where before there had been no _reiatsu_ of any kind, the familiar maelstrom of Ichigo's presence now streamed around her, as though she were suddenly in the eye of a typhoon. It was of exactly the same kind and magnitude she had last felt before he fought Aizen. Her own _reiatsu_ , still weaker in comparison, at first contracted against the astounding force radiating from him, before stabilizing and seeming to harmonize, like two whirlwinds counter-rotating in synchronous. "Ichigo…!" was all she could manage to get out at the sudden sensation. They stared at one another in silence.

She felt him delicately squeeze her hand and realized their fingers had interlocked, and she found she didn't know if she had done it or he had. The look in his eyes conveyed that he was just as surprised. She froze at that for a moment, before squeezing back harder. She felt tears form at the corners of her eyes and abruptly pushed up against him to hide her joy, her right hand clenching at the fabric of the jacket he wore. His left hand, still holding the box of chocolates, came around the back of her waist, his arm supporting her.

A moment passed before Ichigo whispered "I promise I'll explain everything" down at her.

Rukia clenched both his hand and shirt tighter and whispered back "Shut up," as calmly as she could. They quietly leaned against one another for what seemed like forever.

* * *

"I'm not comfortable with this," Chad said. His tone was plain but there was a note of indignation that was unusual for the strong but silent teenager.

In front of him both Inoue and Ishida were looking through the fence on the roof at the proceedings below them, both clutching bird-watching binoculars Ishida had scrounged up from somewhere. All of them were suppressing their _reiatsu_ to the utmost to avoid Rukia's detection.

"Shh, Sado- _kun_ , they'll hear us!" Inoue scolded.

"You can borrow my binoculars if you want," Ishida said.

Chad had taken them out of Ishida's hands and was already peering down at their pair of friends before the Quincy could even react.

"You just—" Ishida began in vexation before Inoue shushed him as well. Ishida let out a huff and felt his head turn back down toward the couple as there was a sudden shift in Rukia's _reiatsu_ , it contracting and then suddenly flaring, like it was reacting to something.

"They're holding hands!" Inoue said excitedly, almost squealing at how cute it was.

"They'll hear you," Chad said, by means of admonishment.

Ishida narrowed his eyes as Rukia's _reiatsu_ seemed to become perfectly quiescent. He was certain that even for two people in a state like that such a spiritual reaction was not remotely normal, but said nothing to the others. He was, despite his suspicions, happy for them, and didn't want to ruin the mood.

Inoue started quietly chanting " _Banzai!_ " and began hopping from foot to foot at what was happening.

Even Chad cracked a small smile beneath the binoculars.

* * *

Ikumi was collating and recording receipts in her down-time, an unusual smile on her face as she worked. While she had been a bit annoyed Ichigo hadn't shown up, she had known that was quite likely from the way he'd been behaving all week. The more she thought about it the more she smiled, and she found herself whispering "Do your best, Ichigo- _chan_."

No sooner had she said those words than she heard the door opening and looked up, finding a man in a strange blue suit. "Hello, and welcome to the Unagiya Shop, can I—"

She froze in sudden recognition at the smile the man flashed her.

"—You!" she managed.


	8. 1-08: Friday Night Bites

**A/N: Thank you for any and all** **reviews, favorites, and follows, as well as all you other readers out there!**

 ** _Bleach_ and all products thereof are copyright to Tite Kubo, et al.**

* * *

 **Friday, February 14, 2003**

It was sometime later when Rukia stood up fully and looked up at Ichigo with a finally-controlled smile. "I'm happy for you," she said quietly.

He nodded back with a similar smile. It was then that they both became fully aware that their hands were still firmly clasped together and let go out of embarrassment at the same time, moving away from one another.

Rukia was immediately shocked at how the moment she let go of Ichigo's hand his _reiatsu_ just completely disappeared, like it had never been there at all. "Have you—have you been learning to control it?" she asked. She was pretty good at channeling her own _reiatsu_ , but she had never seen anything like that before.

Ichigo just shook his head at her, an odd look on his face.

She tilted her head at his expression and poked his jacket-clad arm with one finger, feeling nothing, before poking his hand, feeling it instantly roar around her. She was almost knocked off her feet by the sudden force and Ichigo had to catch her to keep her from toppling over.

"Careful!" he said, then, " _Reiatsu_ jamming only stops on direct skin contact."

"'Jamming?' Is this one of the things you're promising to explain?" she asked testily, peering at him as if she could see through him.

"Yes!" he replied with a conviction that made her stop and look up at him. He looked back at her with an unusual intensity and she could feel one of the final pieces of a puzzle fall into place in her mind. Somehow, it had been Ichigo that had been holding whatever it was that produced the mysterious _reiatsu_ discharge, and the missing _reiatsu_ had been used to jump-start his powers again. Presumably, whatever he was desperate to tell her would give her the last remaining pieces.

She easily pulled out of his grasp and moved to his left side, dryly stating "I'm only doing this for the sake of my investigative report and because it really creeps me out to know your powers are there but I can't feel them." She regarded him with a serious, half-lidded expression that dared him to question her.

"Eh?" Ichigo responded, not getting what she meant.

She took a moment to steady herself before deliberately taking his left hand into her right one, feeling his power surge out around her. She easily suppressed the little heat on her cheeks at the contact, which was nothing compared to the shade that flashed across Ichigo's face. She pointed at him with her free hand, scolding "Don't be so juvenile, I just explained it to you!"

"I—I'm not being juvenile!" he snapped back.

Rukia stuck her tongue out at him and started walking, saying "Come on, you promised to tell me everything." Ichigo had no choice but to follow. Each in their own worlds, if connected ones, they made their way together in content silence to a café so he could explain to her what exactly it was he'd done.

* * *

Continuing the game of holding hands became truly awkward once they were seated at the café, and doubly so once the wait staff and other patrons took notice, but Rukia found she liked it both for how incredibly embarrassed and pliable it made Ichigo, and for other reasons she would never admit to anyone. Ichigo had become sensitive to every word she said and she knew that for once she wouldn't have to use violence or even the threat of it to get him to speak up.

After hemming-and-hawing for a short while over their orders, Ichigo visibly calmed himself and asked simply "What do you know already?"

"You tell me," Rukia said flatly, propping her free arm's elbow on the table and resting her chin on her hand with an expectant look. She wasn't going to let him weasel his way out of explaining anything.

Ichigo blew out a breath and began to relate to her what had happened. It took less work than he imagined it would to relate the events of the week, and he had gotten through it all in about five minutes.

Rukia's expression didn't change once during the tale. When at last he had finished she had just sighed and said "So…you're an idiot."

"Come on!" Ichigo protested.

"What exactly is the United States anyway?" Rukia asked suddenly.

"Are…are you for real?" Ichigo responded with complete disbelief, before adding "America, it's America!"

Rukia blinked, and looked off to one side in thought, only sort of familiar with the place through some pop-culture. "Oh, Hollywood!" she said at last, before looking at Ichigo suspiciously, "What would they want with a face like yours?"

"Not Hollywood, idiot!" Ichigo said, face-palming with his free hand. He stopped himself and took a deep breath. "So you know that the Living World is divided up into states, right?"

"Yes," said Rukia. She had received some instruction in geography during her time at his school.

"And Japan is only one of these?"

"Yes."

"So, there are around 200 states, and out of them, America is the 4th largest, has the 3rd most people, the biggest economy, and far and away the most powerful military." It had been almost impossible to escape news about what seemed to be a looming war in Iraq, especially since their State of the Union the week prior, and so that final point was currently being driven into the ground.

"Okay."

"Japan, in comparison, is 62nd, 10th, and 2nd, and basically relies on the American military for defense in several regards," Ichigo concluded.

"Okay."

"Haven't you ever thought it was weird Soul Society only seems to have people of Japanese ancestry in it?" Ichigo whispered, looking at her strangely.

"…No," Rukia said. Now that he was pointing it out like this though it was pretty odd.

"Rukia," Ichigo said, his tone suddenly much more serious and grave, "this guy, Alan, knows everything. _Everything_ …" He looked her dead in the eyes, and she could see the worry that was in his. "He knew about Aizen, Zero Division, the Visored, the Espada, Yamamoto- _sōtaichō_ , Kaien- _fukutaichō_ , you, me…he even knew I like Shakespeare!"

Rukia frowned involuntarily at hearing Kaien's name but put it aside, along with asking who Shakespeare was, and continued to listen.

"If there was anyone in this world with the ability to bring my power back, it was these people. And they did…with that gun." He squeezed her hand seemingly subconsciously at reference to that.

Rukia had known Ichigo long enough to guess what he was thinking and she could tell he was actually kind of scared. Not for himself, but for everyone else. And she could also tell that he had done what he always did: looked for a way to protect everyone else and once he found it, leapt for it while only maybe thinking of the potential consequences to himself.

As far as she was concerned his integrity was beyond reproach, and his intentions were noble, but they were once more in the thick of it because of how he'd done things. She had no idea what the Americans might want from him, nor what the Gotei 13 would think of his actions. "Fool," she whispered, absent-mindedly squeezing his hand back.

He looked at her and she held his gaze equally as neither said anything for a moment, both thinking.

"So the necklace you're wearing is what's hiding your _reiatsu_?" she asked at last.

"Yeah," he replied.

"Why not take it off?"

"You're the only one other than him that knows," he said. She felt here was something else, but whatever it was he didn't say it.

"You know I have to report this to the Gotei 13," she said with a note of sadness. It went unsaid that once she did, everyone would know, and so there was no point in hiding it.

"I know" he replied, looking down at the table. She had known he wouldn't ask her not to.

"Ichigo, I…" Rukia began, when suddenly Ichigo's cell phone began to ring, stopping her. Ichigo tried to ignore it but after the fourth ring he fished it out of his pocket. She could tell from his expression upon seeing the number that it had something to do with all this. He looked at her meaningfully before he flipped it open.

"Yeah?" Ichigo said into it. Whatever was said to him from the other end made his eyes snap toward the phone. "How do you know—but…What?" he sputtered. Ichigo closed his eyes before taking the phone away from his ear and holding it out to Rukia, opening them again to look directly at her as he said "He wants to talk to you."

Rukia took the phone as if handling something that might break, watching as Ichigo turned to look dejectedly at the floor. She brought it up to her ear. " _Moshi moshi_ ," she said with forced sweetness.

"Don't be mad at him," a baritone voice said from the other end.

"Would you prefer I be mad at you, Alan Hayward?" she replied, her voice suddenly cold as ice. She saw Ichigo start out of the corner of her eye and shot him a look to calm down.

"No, Kuchiki- _dono_ , I would prefer you make your report to your superiors promptly," he said. She didn't like what sounded like amusement in his voice.

"I fully intend to," she replied coolly, keeping her eyes on Ichigo.

"Good, I will be going with you tomorrow morning at 0730 to help you do so, along with Ichigo. Urahara has already been informed. I trust you can secure a Hell Butterfly so we don't have to run through the _Dangai_?"

Rukia was so stunned by the man's presumptuousness that all she found she could say was "Impossible!"

"That's unfortunate, I think the _Kōtotsu_ will be active tomorrow," the man replied as if she had spoken literally with what seemed like sincere if mild disappointment.

Rukia found that in this moment, despite her many years of living under the Kuchiki clan's rules and all the instruction in etiquette and manners she had received from the same, she could only just barely restrain herself. "What are you playing at?" she grated into the phone with deadly seriousness, Ichigo momentarily forgotten.

The voice on the other end became equally serious. "It's completely understandable that a _fukutaichō_ would not have been informed of the 1946 Treaty of Friendship and Understanding established between Central 46 and my government. I have been informed that of the members of the Gotei 13, Yamamoto- _sōtaichō_ is likely the only one with full awareness of its contents and possibly even its existence. Needless to say, as an officially sanctioned representative of the United States government regarding such matters, and with Ichigo Kurosaki as my current immediate subordinate, I am invoking my diplomatic right to an audience with the Gotei 13 as provided within the Treaty to testify at your briefing." There was a short pause, then: "You may ask Ukitake- _taichō_ to relay this to them for verification if you think I'm lying. Please hand the phone back to Ichigo."

Rukia found herself glaring at the phone before becoming aware of where she was again. She set it down on the table and slid it over to Ichigo, withdrawing her hand from his and crossing her arms over her chest angrily. The sudden void in front of her no longer bothered her quite so much as she simmered, and she looked out the window to her left.

Ichigo had cringed at that, and whatever was being said to him, she didn't know. She didn't even bother to look at the expressions on his face to try and figure it out. For his part, he didn't say anything until finally letting out an "Eh?" as the call was clearly ended. It was then that he turned to his right, likewise staring out the window, as if looking for something. There was silence for a moment until she heard him rasp out in disbelief and fury "Unbelievable...! That bastard, I'll kill him!"

Rukia blinked and turned her head slightly to see where he was looking, catching an expression of incredulous, incandescent rage on his face, then followed his gaze to see a man in a strange blue suit and a woman in a white parka walking across the street. The man said something to the woman and gestured in their direction before both turned and waved at them. The woman looked happy, but at the same time had the most mischievous glint in her eyes. It was quite a look to be seen from such a distance. Rukia had no idea that the woman was Ikumi Unagiya.

For the moment neither caring about nor comprehending Ichigo's volcanic hatred, Rukia pulled out her _denreishinki_ and composed a shorthand message to her _taichō_ reading "forward central 46 request verification existence '1946 treaty of friendship and understanding' diplomatic rights." She looked at it for a moment before hitting send. She sipped the remainder of her tea while Ichigo calmed down, neither of them saying anything to the other. Not even two minutes had passed when a message returned that read simply "central 46 verifies."

"We should go," she said to Ichigo. The one-time Shinigami _Daikō_ asked for the check without complaint, and after he paid for the two of them they left together.

* * *

Rukia let Ichigo walk her back to the Urahara Shop with nary a word exchanged between them on the way there. They were closing in on it at last when she exhaled and said "I'm not mad at you."

"I know," he said. It had the air of a simple statement of fact.

"It's just, whatever this is actually about is a lot bigger than just you," she continued warily.

"I know," he said again, this time more pensive.

She looked at him then, her glance drawing his, and they found themselves staring at each other in the dirt lot in front of the Urahara Shop.

Ichigo looked away first, rubbing the back of his head "Did he say when we were supposed to be leaving?"

"He said 'tomorrow morning at 0730' so I guess that would be 7:30 AM," Rukia said.

" _Tch_ , slave-driver," Ichigo complained.

Rukia could practically see him adding it to a mental list of grievances he had with Alan and laughed at the expression on his face. Ichigo blinked and looked back at her, smiling involuntarily at the sound. Rukia smiled back. "So I gathered that guy we saw was Alan, but who was that women with him you were so mad about?"

Ichigo's face faulted only marginally at being reminded of what had happened. "My boss," he said grudgingly, before looking askance, "Unagiya Ikumi. She's been taunting me about Valentine's Day for weeks. She likes to act like a big sister, it's weird."

Rukia smirked at the idea of him having a big sister and began "So," as she put it together, "Your new boss asked your old boss out on a date and spent it making her think she was watching you confess your true love?" She had slipped back into something approaching her schoolgirl voice toward the end of the delivery and swore she could almost see steam spiraling out of Ichigo's ears.

"Sounds like it," he replied, his tone conveying fully that he didn't want to think about it.

"Oh, I bet he excused himself to make a call, and she saw our reactions without knowing it was him calling us!" Rukia said aloud as it struck her, before looking at Ichigo "She probably thought you totally blew it." She then held up a finger as a second possibility hit her: "That or maybe she was right there as he did it! Can you imagine?!" It was unlikely given the content of what he'd said, but perhaps he'd have been able to play it off as some kind of joke. He had seemed like that type to her. She started to understand then why Ichigo had been so annoyed, even though she didn't know the woman and had only spoken to the man on the phone. It was like a veritable conspiracy against them!

Ichigo just sighed as if the weight of the world was suddenly upon him, and she could indeed imagine he knew all too well the taunting he would receive on Monday, and every day there after, for as long as he worked at Unagiya Shop.

"Ichigo," Rukia said gently to draw his attention. He looked at her directly to find her smiling once more. "I had fun today, despite it all. Thank you," she said.

The teenager nodded and smiled back, "I did too."

Rukia looked up at the sky for a second as if in thought, saying "Hey, if that Ikumi woman teases you and says you messed it up…" She trailed off and reached her hands up to Ichigo's shoulders, pulling him forward enough that she could lean up and kiss him on the cheek, her grip bracing her against the brief storm surge, "…you tell her you got a kiss goodnight." Rather than linger on what effect it would have on him, she let go and turned, heading toward the shop. Her own heart was pounding. _Why did I do that? Why did I do that?!_

"Rukia," Ichigo belatedly called. He sounded strangely composed.

She didn't turn around, refusing to betray herself. "Yes?"

"Everything's going to be fine," Ichigo said. He said it with a degree of certainty she had only heard from him a few times.

"Goodnight, Ichigo," she said softly, continuing on toward the Urahara Shop.

Ichigo watched her until she had opened and closed the door before heading home. He punched his dad out of his attempted ambush and interrogation without saying a word, going upstairs. He set the box of chocolates on his desk and crashed onto his bed, exhausted. Rukia was not in any better state at the Urahara Shop. Despite needing to be up early the next morning, neither found it easy to fall asleep that night.


	9. 1-09: The New Americana

**A/N: Thank you for any and all** **reviews, favorites, and follows, as well as all you other readers out there!**

 ** _Bleach_ and all products thereof are copyright to Tite Kubo, et al.**

* * *

 **Saturday, February 15, 2003**

Alan was already waiting in the dirt lot by the time Ichigo arrived at 7:10 AM. He was dressed the same as he had been the previous day, though everything about his uniform looked crisp, as if it had been laundered and ironed. In addition, he was wearing a long dark blue coat that went down to somewhat below his knees. The silver oak leaves that denoted his rank stood out prominently on its epaulets. It wasn't any colder than the previous days had been and the man had the coat open, so Ichigo could only assume that he was wearing it to look more impressive, and found himself annoyed that it worked. Alan was sipping something from a disposable cup as he approached. It smelled like coffee. There was a black attaché case sitting at his feet.

"Enjoy your date?" the teenager asked with only barely concealed spite.

"Who says it was a date?" Alan replied, before adding "How was yours?"

"Who says it was a date?!" Ichigo growled back through gritted teeth, trying not to yell considering the hour.

"Did you at least not say anything to piss her off further after I told you not to?" Alan rejoined.

Ichigo snapped, "Like I would take advice from you when you're the one who pissed her off to begin with!"

Alan shrugged mildly and took another sip of coffee, saying "I always tell the truth. Even when I lie." The familiar line caught Ichigo's attention and he discerned Alan clearly did not regret his performance in the slightest, and from the man's perspective everything else beyond that was on Ichigo.

They stood for some time before Ichigo asked "So, 'Boss', are you gonna tell me what all this is really about?"

"Nope," Alan said plainly, before helpfully adding "You should be able to figure that out by now."

There was a pause before Ichigo said "You recruited me to get to them because they trust me."

Alan wiggled his free hand in the universal gesture for "so-so" and continued to nurse his coffee, the pitch of the cup indicating he had almost finished it. When he noticed the teenager glowering at him he just said "You're what we call a 'force multiplier', something valuable in itself but also valuable because it amplifies other effects in some fashion. You'll see soon enough."

At that, they saw the door of the Urahara Shop open, Urahara himself standing in the doorway and waving them over. Alan took a final swig of his coffee, picked up his case, and headed toward him, Ichigo following. Alan took off both his hat, aviators , and coat once they were inside as if on reflex, before navigating through the shop to an obscurely positioned trashcan to dispose of the empty cup.

"Been awhile, Sandal-Hat," Ichigo said to Urahara.

"Too long, Kurosaki- _san_ ," Urahara replied, his mood darker than usual. He was, seemingly for once, without a fan.

"Where's Rukia?" Ichigo asked.

"She's waiting below where the _senkaimon_ will be," Urahara said, before adding "Ah, Kurosaki- _san_ , do you require assistance with getting presentable?"

Ichigo produced his _Daikō_ badge, saying "No, I think I've had enough being hit with canes and punched with gloves already in my life."

It was then that he felt, more than saw, that Tessai had somehow appeared behind him, ready to catch his body. With a sigh, he activated the badge, letting his body fall into the man's grasp before it was promptly carried away. Everything looked slightly different and it was when he saw Urahara lacked an outline that he realized the glasses hadn't come with him.

"Very mysterious, Kurosaki- _san_ , being able to turn into a Shinigami with no _reiatsu_ ," Urahara said pointedly. Ichigo noticed that the necklace _had_ transferred onto his soul form and wondered if it was still physically on his body too. He held it up by means of explanation and Urahara merely frowned slightly.

"If you're ready," Alan called, waiting by the ladder down to the vast training room. He had put on his things once more, apparently being willing to regard the room as "outside" for the arcane purposes of military decorum. With that, the man grasped the sides of the ladder and slid down it, somehow arresting his fall just before the bottom with no ill-effects to his person or clothing.

Ichigo muttered "Showoff," and used s _hunpo_ to go down the ladder instead, followed by Urahara. He found that Rukia was indeed waiting, with a hell butterfly perched on one finger. He made his way over to her, and when she saw him she just gave him a tight smile, before eyeing up Alan who joined them moments later. Whatever she concluded from her study of the man she kept to herself. Urahara and Tessai were not long behind.

Eager to get on with it, Rukia wordlessly waved the hell butterfly off and withdrew her _zanpakutō_ , performing the ritual to summon the _senkaimon_. Once it had materialized, Urahara and Tessai conducted their own ritual to modify it to allow Alan through. Urahara nodded at them and so they went in.

They stepped out into a courtyard beneath the 1st Division barracks, Ichigo recognizing it as the place he had fought Renji so long ago. Alan looked around curiously, and at first Ichigo thought it was simply because it was the first time he had been in Soul Society, but the man seemed to be most especially interested in places that were empty, as if he was looking at something invisible. Something about it made Ichigo shudder, but he was distracted by Rukia calling for their attention and leading them up toward their scheduled meeting.

They made their way to the barracks in good order, and after Rukia said they were expected, Ichigo opened the doors, following in after his companions and closing them behind him. Only Yamamoto was there to meet them, seated on a chair in the otherwise empty hall.

Alan had taken off his shades but left his coat and cap on—some sort of subtle insult?—and stopped to remove something from the attaché case he carried, which looked like a rather squat plastic cylinder. He twisted it in some way and a series of green LEDs at one end of it lit up, after which he put it on the floor in the middle of the room and followed the _shihakushō_ -clad pair. Ichigo felt a sensation pass through him then, but only just. Yamamoto did not question what the man had done and in fact seemed to regard it as beneath his notice. At last, all three stood before him at a respectful distance, Rukia in the center flanked by the man and teen.

Ichigo had been under the impression all the _taichō_ would be present, and apparently so had Rukia given her expression. "Yamamoto- _sōtaichō_ ," she began, only to be stopped as he held up a hand.

"Please deliver your investigative report," the old man said simply.

Rukia hesitated for only a second and began to recount her investigation from her perspective, going over what she had determined, before summarizing what Ichigo had told her. He noticed that she used extremely neutral language regarding that, never once using a word like "confessed," and was gladdened inside.

"Is what Kuchiki- _fukutaichō_ has said true, Kurosaki Ichigo?" Yamamoto asked, inclining his head toward the former _Daikō_.

"Yes!" Ichigo said resolutely, for once not daring to speak casually of the old man to his face.

"I feel no _reiatsu_ from you," Yamamoto replied. At that, Alan wordlessly extended a hand toward Ichigo in front of Rukia. Ichigo and Rukia both blinked and after a moment Alan made a grabby motion which made Ichigo finally understand. He took the necklace off and dropped it into Alan's hand, his _reiatsu_ roaring out as soon as the chain left contact with his hand. Alan pocketed it.

At this Yamamoto was quiet and seemed to ponder, before finally tilting his head toward Alan, who had until then had said nothing. "So, what am I supposed to make of your presence and involvement in all this, _chūsa_?" Yamamoto asked, the way he said the unfamiliar rank was like he was sampling a new and foreign drink. "The last time that I spoke with an American," Yamamoto said, not having really waited for Alan to answer, "I believe he was titled 'Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers'. He had a curious pipe." The _sōtaichō_ opened his eyes slightly, adding "Perhaps you know him?"

"I know _of_ him. General MacArthur passed away almost 49 years ago now. I'm afraid that was before my time, sir," Alan replied.

"I see," Yamamoto replied. "He was nothing but an ordinary man but I was given to understand that he wielded tremendous power outside himself, and that he was someone of great importance in your world. Certainly, his title did reflect this, as did his attitude…" the old man trailed off, and fixed Alan with a piercing stare. "So tell me, why is it that now I'm speaking with some young pup whose very rank reveals his existence is trivial to those he claims to represent?" he asked as naturally as if he was breathing, but there radiated out from him an only-just restrained irritation that filled the room.

To this Alan smiled politely and said nothing at first, instead slowly and casually removing his watch and twirling it around by its metal band on one finger as if it was a nervous tic. Yamamoto said nothing, watching. At last Alan tilted his head down so the brim of his cap covered his eyes. His coat began to flap as if in a wind for some reason as he caught the watch in a fist, saying cryptically "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

Ichigo blinked in recognition at the line. For a split-second he saw a flash of a fully mad grin break out across Alan's mouth, right as his hand opened and with casual ease lightly tossed the watch up into the air. Instantly it was as if the man exploded, the pressure of the _reiatsu_ coming off him was so great.

It both was and wasn't like a Shinigami's _reiatsu_. Its color was a blinding green-white and it was only by the faintest of shadows they cast that Ichigo could sense that there were things within it, things that moved in ways that were wrong. Soon he could hear them, quietly at first but growing louder and louder as they closed around him and what had been started as a quiet chant became an all-consuming howl. It was only once this had become so overbearingly loud that there was nothing else in the world at all that he became aware of a sound that seemed to shake the very fabric of reality, as if beneath them loomed some sort of enormous heart or the world itself had become a kind of drum, and he _saw_ the things that now engulfed him—

—A vast and empty tomb lit only by flickering blue flames loomed menacingly around them in frozen blackness, the light revealing walls that curved at impossible angles and seemed to pulse with a glow that gave no light and streamed toward an immense sarcophagus at the room's center, the lid of which suddenly shifted as if pushed from within—

—A city burning in the distance, hundreds of white dashed lines arcing up from it to rake the skies in search of something, intermittent bursts of light from explosions revealing shadowy things running forward, red eyes gleaming, their numbers uncountable, covering the landscape—

—A sky swathed in some sort of brilliant green nebula above a dark teal ocean, from the surface of which a mountain of water climbed in the distance, accompanied by a juddering sound that could be felt down into one's bones, some _thing_ rising from the water and rising and rising until it towered above the sea, kilometers tall, its edges alight in that electric green as it blotted out the stars, its roar cracking the sky as a million white-hot beams rained down upon it—

—A world in darkness drifting below, its surface holding yellow-orange concentric spider webs of light, suddenly brilliant blooms of the purest white blossoming at their centers and rapidly propagating along them, the dull ember-like glow of what must've been massive wildfires turning the whole thing into a glowing cinder—

—Blood, so much blood, blood and bones and viscera and towers of skulls that were and weren't human and so much blood—

—Alan snatched the watch back in hand with only the soft click of the case's metal on the wrist band's, and they were standing in the 1st Division barracks, exactly as they had been years—no, moments—ago. The Shinigami _Daikō_ stared wide-eyed at his 'Boss' as the man nonchalantly fastened his watch back onto his left wrist, and swung his eyes to Yamamoto, who sat equally unperturbed, something now vaguely like respect for the American on his face. He realized from their apparent sizes that he was now significantly farther away from them, closer to the back wall than the center of the room.

Ichigo then became aware of a ragged panting sound, and looked down to find that he was holding Rukia against him, bracing her, his arms crossed tightly over her waist. She was facing away from him and her hands were to her sides, each clenching a fist full of his _shihakushō_. She was shivering and covered in a cold sweat. He realized that he was in little different a state, breathing hard and only barely still standing and holding her up.

"I'm afraid the situation has changed since the last time you spoke with one of us in more ways than one," he heard Alan say. "Accordingly, we would like to reinterpret our relationship at this time to our mutual benefit."

"I see," was all Yamamoto said for a moment.

It was clear that neither man was paying attention to or cared about the pair at the moment. With a great exertion Ichigo forced his muscles to stop quaking and loosened his grip on Rukia's waist. She started at that and pushed back against him, and he could feel her grip tighten on his _shihakushō_. He whispered "Hey, hey," to her to try and get her attention while reassuring her, and brought his large hands on top of her delicate ones. She slowly started to relax her grip and her breathing started to come back under control, but she otherwise didn't move.

"And what exactly do you have in mind?" Yamamoto asked after what felt like an eon.

"I have been instructed to assist in the creation of a trial task force to establish routine communication and interoperation between the forces of my government and the forces of the Gotei 13," Alan said.

"You want us to go beyond promising not to fight one another, and instead for us to work together," Yamamoto clarified, his tone indicating he was not one for the man's stilted language.

Alan was silent but smiled politely again.

"Rukia, hey," Ichigo whispered, "Hey, look at me." He let his fingertips brush hers to draw her focus.

"And who do you think would be best suited for this 'trial task force' to prove the viability of that?" Yamamoto asked.

"Although the department I lead contains my government's technical experts on Soul Society's operations, our knowledge is academic and our attention is required elsewhere," Alan replied, his voice full of consideration. "Fortunately, however…"

The petite Shinigami slowly and haltingly tilted her head up and to one side, and Ichigo craned his neck to match so that he could see her face. When he finally caught sight of her eyes, they were still wide and hollowed with fear at the things that they had seen (he somehow felt that saying remotely experienced Alan's memories of was more accurate).

"…we have recently contracted someone with direct hands-on experience and well-established relations here, so…" Alan continued.

Ichigo felt something in him fully thaw at the sight and slid his fingers down between Rukia's, gripping her hands securely and squeezing. He kept his eyes locked to hers and did his best to smile. He saw the light start to come back into her gaze and felt her fingers squeeze back against his. "Ichigo," Rukia said up at him at last, her eyes focusing on his face. He was suddenly aware of her heartbeat, and his own.

"…I would nominate Staff Sergeant Ichigo Kurosaki as the representative of American forces, and _fukutaichō_ Rukia Kuchiki as the representative of Shinigami forces," Alan concluded.

Ichigo and Rukia both completely froze at the mention of their names, still looking at one another, and they became instantly aware of the calculating stares of both the Lieutenant Colonel and the _sōtaichō_ settling upon them like some sorts of specimens under glass.

Rukia's cheeks lit up in bright crimson but she didn't look away from him, and he could tell that his own cheeks were no different—could see the fact reflected in her ultramarine eyes. Even as his reflexes screamed to let go of her hands he found that his muscles simply wouldn't respond, and he could tell by the rising panic in her eyes that the same thing was true for her. He could feel Alan's smug little smirk and Yamamoto's unreadable stare upon the two of them like spotlights in the darkness but dared not and could not look away from Rukia. His pulse hammered in his ears and he could feel hers doing the same through her fingers and how she was pressed against him.

"I see," Yamamoto said again, and like that the spotlights were gone, the two men focused back on one another. "And I imagine you have something in mind as their first mission as well?"

"Yes, actually, and I think you will find it is in line with your existing interests. However, before I begin, we unfortunately had to depart early and missed breakfast. Would it trouble you if we took a break at this time?" Alan asked diplomatically.

"If my _fukutaichō_ is keeping to his regular schedule, I believe he will have prepared tea and some snacks by about now, if that would be of interest to you," Yamamoto replied.

"It would be an honor, Yamamoto- _sōtaichō_ ," Alan said.

Yamamoto nodded and rose, leading the way to a side door, and Alan followed him, finally taking off his cap and coat. Neither made the slightest effort to invite the pair nor even gave any further acknowledgement of their existence, and so they were left alone in the hall, fingers still intertwined, staring with embarrassment at one another in silence.

Rukia's fingers gripped Ichigo's with a surprising strength as he saw a fire roar to life in her eyes. "Ichigo," she said with the utmost resolve, "that guy, we have to—"

Ichigo gripped back, knowing exactly what she was thinking, feeling the same thing. "Rukia, we will, definitely—"

"—Make him pay!" they both exclaimed with absolute determination at one another, still unable to let go of each other's hands.


	10. 1-10: Special Agents Arise

**A/N: The chapters have all been named and a few token edits made to some earlier ones.** **Thank you for any and all** **reviews, favorites, and follows, as well as all you other readers out there!**

 ** _Bleach_ and all products thereof are copyright to Tite Kubo, et al.**

* * *

 **Saturday, February 15, 2003**

By the time Sasakibe- _fukutaichō_ arrived to summon Rukia and Ichigo, they had managed to pry themselves apart and were sitting beside one another against one of the walls of the 1st Division's main barracks hall. Rukia leant almost as much against Ichigo as she did against the wall for support. Between the lack of sleep, the lack of food, and the experience of weathering whatever Alan's horrible _reiatsu_ was, both were already exhausted, and the morning was at best only halfway over.

The man ignored them at first, going instead to retrieve the odd cylinder—he must've been instructed in its deactivation—and Alan's attaché case, before walking back toward the pair. Rukia let her eyes track his progress without really watching him. Once he was near them again he politely coughed to draw their attention and said "Yamamoto- _sōtaichō_ requests your audience," before continuing on.

With effort, Ichigo hauled himself to his feet beside her and offered Rukia a hand to help her up. She took it without protest, and then they filed in after the man. He led them through the doorway the Lieutenant Colonel and _sōtaichō_ had gone through earlier, down a hall, and to a rather smaller room. It was of extremely sparse furnishing other than a long rectangular _kotatsu_ and various sitting pillows. Sasakibe handed the case to Alan and then promptly left without a word.

Rukia and Ichigo, seeing little recourse, sat beside one another on one side of the _kotatsu_. Alan sat on the other, and Yamamoto sat at the head of the table. None of them said anything to one another. Seeing that there were still numerous forms of snacks upon the table and several kettles of tea, and that both of their senior officers had helped themselves, the pair began to eat and drink without comment, only occasionally shooting death glares at Alan.

The Lieutenant Colonel, for his part, completely ignored them and withdrew from his case two different and altogether more mundane machines that Ichigo recognized as basically being a laptop and projector, although they seemed rather more rugged than civilian ones he had seen before. He put them together in short order and powered them up and so the four became both the first and last group to see a Windows XP loading screen appear on one of Soul Society's walls.

A few minutes later and a PowerPoint presentation was open to a slide that showed photographs of varying quality of seven individuals, each labeled with a name. They were, in order, Kūgo Ginjō, Giriko Kutsuzawa, Riruka Dokugamine, Jackie Tristan, Shūkurō Tsukishima, Yukio Hans Vorarlberna, and Moe Shishigawara.

"This group calls itself Xcution; Soul Society has been tracking their activities," Alan said, glancing at Yamamoto. It was not at all a question. He then proceeded to detail each of the individuals and what was known about them before explaining that Ichigo and Rukia's first mission would be the dismantling and destruction of the group.

He kept referring to the pair as "Combined Task Force Raven One."

* * *

After Alan had finished his presentation, Yamamoto had given his surprisingly brief approval of the entire enterprise and promptly excused himself from the room. Apparently he had sent word earlier to the _taichō_ to appear soon—he had wanted Rukia's full report and any negotiations with the American to be strictly in confidence.

The remaining trio sat in silence for a minute before Ichigo slapped a palm on the _kotatsu_ , making the various chinaware clatter, before exclaiming "I don't get it!"

Rukia glanced sideways at him and Alan once more ignored him in favor of continuing to shut down and disconnect the portable computer and projector.

Ichigo soldiered on with his indignation. "Didn't you call him 'a militarily incompetent, senile, brutish war criminal' when we first met? Where the hell do you get off on being friends with him all of a sudden?!" he pointed accusingly across the table.

"I respect him. I would also respect a nuclear bomb. That doesn't mean I like it, agree with it, trust it, or that I'm friends with it, Ichigo," Alan said dryly.

"You bastard, don't think we didn't see what you did out there!" Ichigo growled.

"What does 'Combined Task Force Raven One' mean?" Rukia asked.

"Combined, because it's a multinational effort, Task Force, because you have a specific goal, Raven, because," Alan stopped and pointed at Rukia's hair, "One, because," he stopped and pointed at Ichigo.

"Why not 'Fifteen'?" Rukia asked, spacing for a moment after everything that had happened.

"Too obvious," Alan replied.

"It even read that on the PowerPoint!" Ichigo seethed, "You planned this whole thing out from the very start!"

If Ichigo was fire, Rukia was ice, and returning to focus upon the Lieutenant Colonel she simply let her most grim Kuchiki look drill into him. "We won't forget this," she said ominously.

Alan was utterly unaffected by their combined performance. He finished packing away the attaché case and took it off the _kotatsu_ before clasping his hands in front of him, looking at the pair for a moment as if in sincere consideration. At last he just smiled faintly "Did you know that I've known about the two of you since 36 hours after you first met?"

The two both blinked at him, then looked at each other before glaring back at him and saying "What's that supposed to mean?" in unison.

Alan smiled at that and said "It means that I have been uniquely privileged to—"

He was cut off by Sasakibe opening the door. The pair in _shihakushō_ turned to glare at him irritably. The _fukutaichō_ , to his credit, ignored their obvious ire, saying "The _taichō_ have assembled, your presence will soon be required in the main hall," before departing.

Both Ichigo and Rukia's heads snapped back to Alan, their expressions demanding he finish whatever it was he had been about to say. The Lieutenant Colonel instead reclined and stood, taking on an officious posture. "Anyway," he began, " _Staff Sergeant_ , after this is over with, I will be departing immediately for redeployment. I have stayed overly long as it is. You will receive future orders by text, e-mail, and mail for the foreseeable future, and will be expected to report weekly. Materials relating to your position will be arriving shortly at your home. Let's go before we're late." He grabbed his case and went out the door.

The Shinigami and the _Daikō_ would've burned holes in him with their looks had they the power, but they instead rose and adjusted themselves and one another to look presentable, following after him. Their revenge was already in motion, and Alan's imminent departure would do nothing to stop it.

Alan had once more put his cap and coat on and was already standing at attention behind and to the right of Yamamoto's chair when they walked back into the main hall. In front of Yamamoto were assembled all the _taichō_ of the Gotei 13: Suì-Fēng, Rose, Unohana, Shinji, Byakuya, Komamura, Shunsui, Kensei, Hitsugaya, Kenpachi, Mayuri, and Ukitake. The _sōtaichō_ had just concluded bringing them to order over some spat or another, probably related to Alan, as the two both stepped out.

The pair came to a stop side-by-side behind and to the left of Yamamoto's position and likewise stood at attention, staring forward and slightly upwards, each doing their damnedest to ignore the curious and in some cases disbelieving looks that shifted from the Lieutenant Colonel to them. Ichigo endeavored to ignore Rose, Shinji, Kensei, and Kenpachi to the utmost. Rukia did likewise for Ukitake. Both did not dare look anywhere near Byakuya.

"This meeting is now called to order," Yamamoto said, as if nothing unusual was happening. "The first matter at hand is the finding of Kuchiki- _fukutaichō_ regarding the mysterious discharge of _reiatsu_ in Karakura: it has been determined that this was a side-effect of the return of the powers of the Shinigami _Daikō_ , Kurosaki Ichigo," Yamamoto declared. At this there was much disbelief, particularly from Mayuri, but Ichigo's _reiatsu_ was there radiating for all to see, just as it had before. The eyes of Kenpachi, who had been grinning wickedly the entire time, seemed to twinkle at this.

Yamamoto banged his cane on the floor to bring the assembly back to order. "Second, it is hereby declared that Kurosaki Ichigo is stripped of his status as Shinigami _Daikō_ and all attendant duties related thereto. He will henceforth be addressed as Kurosaki- _gunsō_ , is accountable only to myself and to Ukitake- _taichō_ in all matters, and is to be afforded respect commensurate with such accountability," he continued. This drew an even greater degree of disbelief, particularly from Byakuya and less so, Ukitake. Several of the _taichō_ were clearly confused by the previously unknown title of _gunsō_.

Yamamoto banged his cane again. "Third, Kuchiki- _fukutaichō_ , while maintaining her station, is hereby relieved of all related normal duties and responsibilities attendant to it until further notice," he said. Once again, Byakuya and Ukitake led the shocked response, although this time the severity was reversed.

Once more, Yamamoto struck the floor with his cane. "Finally," he said, opening his eyes slightly and glancing momentarily toward his right, finding he didn't have the heart to use the strange designator the Lieutenant Colonel had chosen for them, "Both are hereby to be regarded as on special assignment, again accountable only to myself and Ukitake- _taichō_ , and when not on deployment to the Living World will be based out of the 13th Division. You are to accommodate them in any matters on which they request your assistance to the utmost of your abilities. You are to inform your _fukutaichō_ and seated officers of the same. You are dismissed."

There was practically a riot of questions and demands for answers in the aftermath which Yamamoto weathered without any concern at all. Shinji, Kensei, and Rose all had a rather good idea of who the man in the military uniform represented and what this might be about, and withdrew first to discuss among themselves. Suì-Fēng, Unohana, Komamura, and Hitsugaya, after listening for their own sundry reasons, likewise soon retired as they ultimately had no great issue with what had just happened, token questions aside. Shunsui commiserated with Ukitake for a moment and also quickly departed.

This left Byakuya, Kenpachi, Mayuri, and Ukitake. Mayuri was upset about the total lack of explanation about the discharge incident, the return of Ichigo's powers and what, exactly, had happened to the _reiatsu_ of the 1st Division's barracks earlier in the day. (Both Rukia and Ichigo put it together from his remarks that whatever that cylinder was that Alan had activated, it had prevented his _reiatsu_ from being observed outside, and at the same time temporarily occluded Yamamoto's and Rukia's, and delayed the reveal of Ichigo's until after the summons were well underway, and possibly more besides.) After being stonewalled, he too left, followed shortly by Kenpachi, who had just been looking at Ichigo with terrifying satisfaction.

Byakuya had, after the dismissal of the _taichō_ , merely stared at the pair in vague disapproval. As he had considered, however, he came to several conclusions. First, his sister had done her job admirably quickly and was to be congratulated for it. Second, to be marked out for special assignment in such a fashion by the _sōtaichō_ was in actuality an honor and likewise spoke to her credit, and he was sure she would impress him again in her new duties. Third, although he and…Kurosaki- _gunsō_ …did not see eye-to-eye, he knew from personal experience the boy would do everything in his power to protect his sister and would never willingly do something to hurt her. Fourth, for some reason, Rukia always seemed happier around him. Fifth and finally, he had other ways of finding out what he wanted to know. This all in mind, Byakuya returned to his Division without further comment, already making plans to follow up.

Ukitake was left by himself with the old man, the strange military man, and the newly minted special agents. The latter both visibly relaxed now that the public ordeal was over. Yamamoto called for Sasakibe to open a _senkaimon_ to return the Lieutenant Colonel to the Living World. The American left with the _fukutaichō_ and gave Ichigo and Rukia a final all-too-happy wave before putting on his aviators and disappearing into the sun's glare. Raven and One just stared at his departure with pure disdain. Ukitake found himself wondering what the mysterious foreigner had done to offend them both so.

* * *

As Alan walked out onto dusty lot outside the Urahara Shop, he noticed his local burner cell phone began buzzing the moment it found the network again. It was then that he found that his work cell phone was similarly active. Opening both he found several missed calls and text messages, all from the same number. It was Ikumi Unagiya's.

Looking back at the Urahara Shop, he thought for a moment, and had a pretty good idea how to connect the dots: Rukia had used her _denreishinki_ to call Urahara while he was out of the room, and the pair had instructed the shopkeeper to forward Ikumi his contact information, probably using Ichigo's cell phone, from the business card he'd given Ichigo, which was probably on his person.

"Well played," he said in English to no one in particular, before laughing "But the joke's on you: I actually like her." He dismantled the burner and smashed its SIM card, holding onto the pieces to dispose of at various intervals during his walk. "Good luck, you two, do your best," he muttered, before calling Ikumi back on his work cell phone. He could spare a bit longer and have lunch before leaving.

* * *

Yamamoto had yet again excused himself after dispatching Sasakibe and so at last it was just Ichigo, Rukia, and Ukitake in the 1st Division's barracks hall. "So, do I even want to know what that was all about?" the _taichō_ asked them.

They shared a look at that and Rukia, clearly frazzled, asked "Can we get back to the 13th Division first, please, Ukitake- _taichō_?"

"And maybe have a real meal first, and a shower, and a nap…" Ichigo trailed off muttering, likewise seemingly at wits end. He was not prepared for the fist that Rukia suddenly slammed into his cheek and fell into a heap on the ground in actual pain, only sputtering "Wha—What the hell was that for?!" up at her in surprise after a moment.

She glared down at him with a deadly intensity before turning with a huff and stomping off toward the hall's entrance.

Ichigo felt a sweatdrop form on his forehead at the sudden change in her mood only to blink as he noticed Ukitake extending a hand to him. After a moment he took it and let the white-haired _taichō_ help him up. The man let go once he was standing and lightly clasped him on the shoulder, saying quietly "I think it was that the way you spoke implied that you would be showering and napping together…"

Ichigo felt his cheeks flare red, which the _taichō_ politely ignored as he turned to follow after Rukia. "Come on, Kurosaki- _gunsō_ , you can surely still use _shunpo_? We could be there in a few minutes."

"Jūshi—Ukitake- _taichō_ ," Ichigo said, rubbing the back of his head, "Do you have a change of clothes I could borrow? Anything at all would do, I—"

The white-haired _taichō_ turned his head and smiled kindly, saying "Don't worry, I'll have something sent over." With that he continued walking, and Ichigo followed after. Ukitake found that he was forced to stifle a laugh as he approached the still visibly upset Rukia and opened the doors. He was now certain that it would in fact work out for the best.

* * *

They had arrived back in the 13th Division's district in fairly short order and Ukitake had split off from them. Rukia hadn't said a word to Ichigo on the way but knew that he hadn't been immediately aware of the implications of what he'd said—he could be dumb like that. She wasn't truly upset with him, but examples had to be made. _Even if_ … Her eyebrow twitched and she said "Come on, idiot," to Ichigo, escorting him to her apartment.

Her fellow special agent wisely said nothing in response and followed her.

The place she spent her workweek at was, despite being called an apartment, one in the more traditional definition: it was its own compact free-standing building. Rukia didn't bother to lock the door since crime in Seireitei was unheard of and her position both by rank and clan deterred even her peers from exploiting this fact. She led Ichigo inside. It was just as clean as she had left it. Both took off their _waraji_ by the door.

"Rukia, this is your place?" Ichigo asked, looking around in moderate surprise.

"Of course," she said with pride, then suspiciously snapped "Why?"

Ichigo held up both hands in defense "It's nice, that's all, it's just a compliment!"

She regarded him critically for a moment, before leaving the room to get him a towel. Returning, she chucked it at him, before pointing out the bathroom. "I'll get food while you shower," she said, not leaving room for debate.

"Ah, b—but…" Ichigo began.

"The _taichō_ will surely have brought you clothes by the time you're done," Rukia said, relenting a little, before turning, slipping on her _waraji_ again, and going back out the door. Ichigo was left looking at the door, the towel, and then the bathroom in that order.

* * *

By the time Rukia returned with food, Ichigo was in the living room area, dressed in a relatively simple but still rather quite stylish _yukata_ that was a sort of chocolate brown color inset with sky blue hexagons that were both linked and unlinked. He appeared to just be studying some of the items in the room and gave only the smallest of smiles at her when he heard her walk in.

She found she couldn't help but return the expression and unpacked the simple _bentō_ boxes she'd retrieved from the Division's cafeteria. They dug into the food without conversation, both finding they were famished. Rukia had actually gotten four boxes instead of two, and she wound up eating one and two-thirds, while Ichigo cleaned up two and one-third. Sitting back in satisfaction, they both sighed happily.

"Alright," Rukia said, rising and heading to the bathroom, "I'll be back out in a bit, don't wreck the place."

Ichigo muttered something she didn't catch and chose to let go, and so she went and got a _yukata_ for herself and then went to shower, passing by his neatly folded _shihakushō_ garments outside the bathroom door.

* * *

Once Rukia had finished she took both of their clothes to a small utility room that housed a combination washer-dryer, dumping all the whites in and setting it to go. It was one of the modern conveniences that Soul Society had adopted in earnest because it was simply too useful. Their black _kosode_ and _hakama_ were still in good shape and didn't require attention.

Returning to the living room, she found that Ichigo had cleaned up the _bentō_ boxes and taken them to the kitchen for disposal, and had at some point passed out on a low couch. He was breathing softly and didn't respond to her quiet calls. She smiled as she watched him. It wasn't the first time she'd seen him asleep but now he looked…

She pulled herself away to retrieve a light throw blanket and coming back, draped it over him, finding that he didn't shift. After another moment she went to her bedroom and flopped down onto bed. She decided she would nap too and they would report to Ukitake in the late afternoon. She closed her eyes—

—Endless clicking shadows inexorably coming closer and closer, their eyes an evil red like hot steel, advancing out of the scorched city as it was lit eerily by massive bursts that rocked the ground seconds later, a male cry to her left of "They're breaching the perimeter!" and to her right of "Form a firing line!" Men and women in strange uniforms running about with odd weapons before taking up positions, her own voice crying "Fire, fire, fire!" before a wall of bright beams shot out to meet the horde—

—Rukia's eyes snapped open and she felt herself shiver. She sat up and looked toward where she could feel Ichigo's sleeping presence. She looked down at her bed in hesitation for a moment before she pulled off a blanket and picked up a pillow, padding back out to living room. With only a trace of embarrassment she braced the pillow against one of Ichigo's arms. With that, Rukia leaned against the couch, resting her head on the pillow and drawing the blanket up over herself, Ichigo's reiatsu lazily swirling around her. She closed her eyes, and this time promptly fell asleep.

* * *

"It went largely as planned, sir," Alan said to the speakerphone as he drove back to Yokota AB.

"You're behind on your time-table, Hayward," a voice critiqued. The man's tone was not genuinely upset.

"I figured you would prefer a job well-done," Alan responded.

"That remains to be seen," the voice replied.

"I have every confidence, Colonel. Give it a few months. They'll be field-ready, especially when the thing with the Quincy is sorted out," Alan said.

"Do you believe that will require a full-scale intervention?" the Colonel asked.

"That remains to be seen," Alan echoed back.

 _ **End of Part 1**_


	11. 2-01: Feel the Noize

**A/N:** **Thank you for any and all** **reviews, favorites, and follows, as well as all you other readers out there!**

 ** _Bleach_ and all products thereof are copyright to Tite Kubo, et al.**

* * *

 **Saturday, February 15, 2003**

A simultaneous cry of "Ichigo!" and "Rukia!" was the only warning before the door to Rukia's apartment opened and Renji, Kira, Rangiku, Ikkaku, and Yumichika abruptly piled inside, all totting a bottle of _sake_ in each hand, only to be stopped cold in their tracks by the sight that greeted them. The first two Shinigami stared in disbelief and embarrassment and suddenly understood the better judgment Hitsugaya and Momo had displayed in declining to come along. The latter three all grinned wolfishly in their own ways.

Ichigo and Rukia were, for their part, both startled by the sudden commotion into sitting up from their sleeping positions, both still clad in _yukata_ and swathed in blankets. The two groups just stared one another down wordlessly for seconds that seemed to stretch into eternity.

"Oh, are we interrupting something?" Rangiku said at last, drenching it with innuendo and leaning forward provocatively.

"What are you doing in my apartment?!" Rukia shouted, suddenly enraged.

"We—we came to celebrate!" Renji said, holding up the _sake_ bottles as a totem of appeasement. He was familiar with her tone and feared for his shins and more.

"Looks like we missed the start," Yumichika said, opting instead to pour gasoline onto the fire.

"You sure don't waste any time, 'Kurosaki- _gunsō_ '!" Ikkaku added with a wink, pointing with a _sake_ bottle and smirking with approval.

Kira said nothing, too alarmed at the way the _reiatsu_ of the pair was fluctuating in anger.

"Get the hell out!" Ichigo bellowed, jumping to his feet and pointing at them all with righteous indignation that presaged grievous violence.

Renji, assisted by Kira, rapidly managed to push the other three Shinigami outside, shutting the door. From behind it there came continued screaming of abuse which gradually refocused inside, before there was the unmistakable sound of a hand slapping a cheek. There followed silence.

"So, what do we do now?" Ikkaku asked in annoyance.

"Give them a minute," Rangiku said with a dismissive wave, "New couples are always so easily embarrassed!"

"How do you know they're a couple?" Kira asked incredulously.

"Seriously?" both Ikkaku and Yumichika replied at the same time.

"Come on," Rangiku exclaimed, "Even if you ignore everything that happened before, now it's just like a movie or a TV show! There's the by-the-books, grizzled veteran lieutenant who's too-old-for-this-shit and there's the impulsive, hotshot rookie sergeant who's a loose cannon, and together they go on dangerous assignments, all the while crackling with sexual tension! Their ranks are even right, and as a man and a woman—"

Renji clasped a hand over the busty woman's mouth to stop her, waving a finger in her face with the other as he hoarsely whispered "Do you know how incredibly dead you are if they heard anything you just said?!"

From their expressions it was clear that Kira, Ikkaku, and Yumichika had not been watching the same shows as Rangiku had in the Living World.

At that moment the door opened, causing Renji to let go of Rangiku and step back in fear. Rukia and Ichigo both stepped out clad in their _shihakushō_ , their expressions together causing what could be felt as a searing arctic gale. Rukia bore the ultimately disinterested sneer of the Kuchiki clan. Ichigo had a red hand-shaped mark on the left side of his face but otherwise appeared to have a scowl carved from stone. The stares of both could have punched holes straight through an Arrancar's _hierro_.

The other four Shinigami all took a step back after Renji at the sight.

"Your celebrations can wait, we have a report to give to Ukitake- _taichō_ ," Rukia said with a cutting cold that made their blood freeze.

"Leave the _sake_ , and if you ever speak of this to anyone…" Ichigo said, injecting a charge into the air that would surely cause a thousand lighting bolts to come raining down upon them.

The five Shinigami exchanged looks and filed by the pair, placing the sake bottles inside one-by-one, before forming up and making their way out of sight of the special agents. The _fukutaichō_ and _gunsō_ watched them go impassively until they could no longer see them and then some, as if they could track them through solid obstructions.

"How the hell did they get off work to come here anyway?" Ichigo muttered, unchanged in both tone and expression.

"It's the weekend, you idiot," Rukia replied, likewise still fully in persona.

They continued to stand in judgment, their combined _reiatsu_ swirling about like two orbiting tornados, detectable clear across the entirety of the 13th Division's district and even into the adjoining ones, drawing stares out to quite some distance. Soon the odd maelstrom wound down into nothingness.

"Let's go, Ichigo," Rukia said, now merely somewhat impatient.

Ichigo nodded in response and together they set out toward Ukitake's office to deliver their report.

* * *

At last they arrived outside Ukitake's doors, their earlier performance and residual scary ambience warding off both Sentarō and Kiyone from coming to greet them. Rukia knocked.

"Come in!" came a call from the other side.

Raven and One entered, shutting the door behind them and taking seats opposite the _taichō_ , both exhaling as their exasperating day seemed to show no signs of letting up.

"Kurosaki- _gunsō_ , I take it the clothes were to your satisfaction?" the senior officer asked.

"Y—Yes, thank you— _taichō_ ,' Ichigo replied.

Ukitake once more waved it off. "Now that you both seem rested and fed," he began, politely ignoring whatever the malevolent aura everyone had felt radiating from Rukia's apartment earlier had been, "would you please inform me as to what has driven today's events?"

"Yes, sir!" both said. Rukia recounted the course of her investigation as she had to Yamamoto, as well as what Ichigo had told her, being somewhat more pejorative than she had been earlier. Ichigo seemed to ignore it and filled in the occasional detail. Within 15 minutes, Ukitake had been caught up to speed on everything that had happened and their new current mission.

"I see," Ukitake said, considering. He seemed to be recalling something from the distant past and said, "I believe that I can shed some light on the situation, although I'm sure that the documentation that Kurosaki- _gunsō_ has in his possession probably details it more thoroughly."

"Call me just Ichigo or Kurosaki—sir," Ichigo said in a way that conveyed it was still a request.

Ukitake smiled politely and nodded, before continuing on. "Many years ago now, there was a detachment of outsiders that came here, including a man that matched the description that the _sōtaichō_ gave. I was never privy to the negotiations with them, but considering you have told me that man was the head of the American occupation of Japan, I would conclude that the so-called 1946 Treaty of Friendship and Understanding was essentially an agreement to non-interference by both parties," he said.

"That would fit with what Alan said," Rukia added.

"And _ojii_ as well," Ichigo said, slipping back into his casual irreverence. He was clearly expecting to be engaging primarily with Ukitake, whom along with Rukia shot him a look. "What?" he asked.

"Based on what you've told me, the Americans were fine with this arrangement until relatively recently, and are now using this…experiment…as a means of leveraging Soul Society into their alliance system."

"Either the balance of power has changed drastically or the circumstances have," Rukia said grimly, thinking.

"Or both," Ukitake replied, his tone becoming a bit more somber.

"From the way that guy talked," Ichigo said, remembering, "He didn't seem scared of Soul Society. One of the first things he asked me about was the Cold War."

Rukia and Ukitake both looked at him expectantly upon hearing the term, neither familiar with it.

He waved them off, saying "It was a big cause of conflicts in the Living World. Anyway, he made it sound like America and other states like Russia had been far more powerful than Soul Society for quite some time." He was silent for a moment, oddly contemplative, before he looked both Rukia and Ukitake in the eye and said "If they're moving to change the status quo now, it's not just because they want to, they could've done that whenever, it's because they think they have to."

There was a seriousness that hung in the room for a moment at the observation, each of the three adding up the experiences and evidence they had at the moment.

"At least they're being diplomatic…if manipulative," Rukia said, still miffed at Alan despite the surety of their revenge, and not sure whether his methods were reflective of his superiors.

"Using Kurosaki and by proxy you, Kuchiki, was quite clever. It was probably both more effective and a much lower drain on their resources than either a show of force or prolonged wooing would've been," Ukitake said, before adding "Kurosaki, you said your superior told you that more materials and orders would be dispatched to you soon?"

"Yeah, he sprung it on me at the last second," Ichigo replied.

"He said you were supposed to be the American representative," Rukia said, "so probably he or whoever else will send you information in the knowledge you'll share it with us."

"What they share and how readily will perhaps be the true test of their commitment to making this work," Ukitake pondered before exhaling. "At any rate, the two of you should probably return to the Living World at your soonest convenience, it's clear that more answers will be found there," he said.

"What about our mission?" Ichigo replied.

"It was left at our discretion as to how to prepare and train for it," Rukia reminded him.

The duo looked at one another and nodded. Their course was clear.

"Oh, by the way," Ukitake said, suddenly interrupting by removing something from a drawer, "the _sōtaichō_ had this sent over for you, Kurosaki. It was apparently custom-made today."

He set what looked like the badge and armband of a _fukutaichō_ on the desk in front of him. Instead of the usual numeral kanji and insignia denoting a Division, it read "U.S." in Latin characters and had a circle with a star-shape missing in the center and bars coming off the left and right that had horizontal linear gaps shot through them. Ichigo did not yet know it was the low-visibility American roundel, but could immediately tell it was something Alan must've asked for when he and Yamamoto had been alone.

Ichigo reached out and took it in hand, looking it over. He let out a non-committal grunt before fastening it to the left sleeve of his _shihakushō_. Both Rukia and Ukitake looked at one another at this, their glance communicating that both shared the opinion it made him look even more like the long-departed Kaien Shiba.

Ichigo noticed and looked between them both, asking once more "What?"

Rukia just smiled and Ukitake found he couldn't help but do likewise. "Nothing," they both said, Rukia adding "Let's go," and Ukitake following with "Yes, thank you for coming by."

The pair stood, nodded, and took their leave, rather more relaxed than when they had been when they arrived. It was a minute or so later that Ukitake could hear Kiyone and Sentarō likewise gossiping about Ichigo's strengthened resemblance outside his office.

* * *

Ichigo and Rukia had not long departed from the barracks of the 13th Division when they were once again ambushed by Rangiku, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Kira, and Renji, all of whom seemed more apprehensive and had sought reinforcements after their last engagement. With them now were Hitsugaya, Shinji, Kensei, Hisagi, Momo, and Hanatarō, all of whom had been roped into coming along in their own way.

"So, are you guys willing to come along to your own celebration party now?" Rangiku asked with a somewhat conciliatory tone.

"I was told it'd be a drinking party," Hisagi said flatly.

"I'm underage," Ichigo said with just as little consideration.

"Bastard!" Ikkaku shouted, "You can't just demand we turn over the _sake_ like earlier and then pull that kind of excuse!"

"Wanna fight about it, baldy?!" Ichigo roared back, and soon Rukia and Yumichika were the only things restraining them from going at one another.

Rukia brought her lips close to Ichigo's ear and whispered "Hey, Ichigo, come on, it could be fun," and the feel of her warm breath on his skin more than anything made him stop and with an exaggerated sigh declare "Fine…but you're buying!"

Yumichika continued to have to restrain Ikkaku at his protests that they had already bought, while Renji, Kira, and Rangiku just readily agreed. The new arrivals, not knowing what to make of the exchange, began to exchange looks of concern as to what they'd agreed to. So it was that the group of thirteen made their way to one of the cantinas in the outer reaches of the 13th Division's district.

* * *

Some hours later, Rukia leaned heavily against Ichigo, pleasantly tipsy but by no means drunk. Ichigo had, despite his age, decided to partake in moderation and was even less buzzed. It had oddly been Renji who had served as his guardian wingman in that regard, having taken on the role of distracting the rowdier men and Rangiku, and it was Renji who was now among the most thoroughly trashed.

Hitsugaya had excused himself halfway through the proceedings in disgust, citing paperwork, but had for once not badgered Rangiku into leaving with him. For Renji's sake, Momo and Kira had stayed, the latter having gotten quite thoroughly wrecked in the effort to help defend him. Shinji and Kensei, knowing their limits a bit better than their younger counterparts, had left a half hour previously while still under their own power. Hanatarō had had little to drink and spent the party mostly being abused, but remained in good humor about it.

Hisagi, Rangiku, Ikkaku, and Yumichika were just as smashed as Renji, and Momo and Hanatarō were trying to get them and Kira to hydrate as they slurred and jibbed at one another.

"Rukia," Ichigo said, surveying the sad sight, "We should go."

The petite Shinigami giggled uncharacteristically. "Momo, Hanatarō, can you handle all of this? I couldn't possibly just leave you with—"

"Don't worry about it, Kuchiki- _san_ , it's not like this is the first time this kind of thing has happened!" Momo replied cheerily.

"Alcohol poisoning is actually the second leading cause of injuries reported to the 4th Division," Hanatarō said, the statistic apparently not really bothering him.

Ichigo looked on their familiarity at the proceedings with a rising horror and stood, helping Rukia up as he rose. She absent-mindedly clung to his arm for support in a way he dared not acknowledge.

"Goodnight, everyone, it was fun!" Rukia said, declaring their intention to leave.

Nobody but Renji reacted, the 6th Division _fukutaichō_ grunting with effort to push himself off the table he was sprawled onto, standing with the least-sure footing Ichigo had ever seen someone manage. In fits and starts he brought himself over to the pair, suddenly grabbing Ichigo by the collar in an instant of clarity.

"Renji!" Rukia protested, using her other hand to try and restrain him from whatever he was about to do.

Ichigo just looked at his crimson-haired Shinigami friend with confusion, recoiling mildly at the alcohol on his breath.

"Ichigo," Renji snarled, "You—you make her happy, damn it, or I swear I—I…" to this Ichigo could only watch with surprise as Renji's eyes rolled back and his grip went limp, the man toppling backward onto the ground. Rangiku suddenly clapped happily.

Both Rukia and Ichigo started at this only for Momo to swoop in front of them, hauling the _fukutaichō_ up into a sitting position against a table, saying "Don't worry, don't worry! He'll be fine, go on now."

Ichigo blinked and found he could only smile slightly. _Renji, you_ … Rukia continued to fret and Ichigo gently touched her wrist. She looked up at him and he just said "Come on, we need to get back. We'll stop by your place first to clean it up, yeah?"

Rukia nodded, and so while she still leaned on Ichigo's arm, the pair made their way back to Rukia's apartment, leaving Hanatarō and Momo behind to tend to their shattered friends.

* * *

There wasn't actually much to do at Rukia's apartment, other than squaring away the confiscated _sake_ , taking out the trash, and putting things back in place, and so within a half hour of leaving the party they had made their way to a relatively open area to summon a _senkaimon_ to take them back to the Urahara Shop.

Rukia had just finished summoning a hell butterfly and was about to begin the ritual when a familiar _reiatsu_ presence suddenly appeared behind both of them. They didn't have to turn to know who it was, but both did so anyway.

" _Nii-sama_!" Rukia exclaimed, running the short distance up to Byakuya, both still a bit buzzed and genuinely happy to see him.

"Bya—Kuchiki- _taichō_ ," Ichigo said in surprise, the noble being the last person he expected to come see them off.

"Rukia. Kurosaki… _gunsō_ ," Byakuya replied by way of greeting. He looked at Rukia with something that actually might have been warmth, or at least less frigidness than usual, and said "You've done very well. I'm pleased to see that your hard work has been acknowledged so publicly. You do your clan a credit."

One watched Raven smile happily at what he imagined was effusive praise from her normally stolid brother, finding himself smiling softly in empathy as she replied "Thank you, _nii-sama_."

Ichigo's smile faded as Byakuya's eyes flicked to him, and he forced himself to stand his ground without giving a centimeter as the noble slowly walked toward him. Rukia's expression turned to concern, but her brother stopped at about a meter's distance from her partner, the two simply squared off against one another.

Awkward silence passed between the three, only Byakuya not seeming to care. At last he spoke: "I do not know what you've done, but know that I intend to find out. Likewise, rest assured that I will be following up on Rukia's accommodations in the Living World to ensure that she is being given proper lodging and circumstances due a member of the Kuchiki household." Apparently satisfied with the vague threat, Byakuya turned and left, saying "Continue in excellence, Rukia," as he walked past his sister.

"G—Goodnight, _nii-sama_!" Rukia replied only somewhat awkwardly. And with that, the man was gone, having used _shunpo_.

Ichigo let out a breath of relief then, saying, "For a second there I thought he was gonna fight me."

" _Nii-sama_ would never break the direct orders of the _sōtaichō_ ," Rukia replied, only somewhat chiding him. With that, noticing the hell butterfly flapping about, she withdrew her _zanpakutō_ , and summoned the _senkaimon_.

* * *

They were met by Urahara in the man's training room, which as always made it appear to be midday. "Urahara… _san_ ," Ichigo said by way of greeting.

"Oh, Kurosaki- _san_ ," the man said, waving his fan, "I see that you appear to be back to normal." He sounded once more like his usual self.

Ichigo and Rukia shared a look and then both bowed to Urahara, saying "Thank you for your assistance against that man, Urahara- _san_!"

The shopkeeper slid the fan down and gave them a cryptic smile, replying "No, no thanks are necessary for that." He then gestured at the long ladder, saying "You must want to get back now, especially since I'm sure everyone is by now aware of your return."

The pair nodded, and the trio were up the ladder in a flash. They split, Urahara going to do something or other, Rukia to get in her _gigai_ , and Ichigo to get back into his body. They reassembled in the room beyond the shop area minutes later.

"Kurosaki- _san_ , you should know that I received a call from Ukitake- _taichō_ earlier clarifying some of the situation," Urahara said delicately, before adding "He requested I inform your father of the same."

"Yeah, I'm not surprised," Ichigo said. He had told his dad that he was going to study all day, but as the day had unfolded he had figured word would get back to him sooner or later. It may as well be sooner. "I'm not mad."

Urahara nodded, before gesturing at the shop's door and saying "I suppose you two had best get going."

"Hey, Urahara- _san_ , did Ukitake- _taichō_ not ask for the badge back?" Ichigo asked. He had found it still on his person.

"He didn't mention it, so…" Urahara trailed off.

Rukia casually slipped her right arm around Ichigo's left one and whispered "Our friends are gonna catch us before we make it back," and pulled him along before he could say anything else, the pair making their way outside. Once they were away from the door and well into the lot she added "Don't you dare say a word about this," with no hint of the menace that was clearly there.

"What are we gonna do about where you're staying?" Ichigo asked instead.

"We'll come up with something," she said.

Ichigo nodded and steeled himself for whatever the response of his family would be to the return of his powers, and what he felt was the surely coming ambush by their friends, but found that no matter how much he searched for their _reiatsu_ or where he looked with the glasses, he couldn't find any of them.

"Are you really going to keep wearing those things?" Rukia asked him.

"I thought you liked them," he replied absent-mindedly.

"Maybe, but— _ne_ , Ichigo, can you sense anyone?" she asked with a bit of alarm.

Ichigo just braced her arm in his and started to jog, she immediately doing the same and both of them making haste toward his house.

They arrived minutes later, Ichigo bursting through the door shouting "Hey!" only to receive no response. He looked at Rukia and said "Check the clinic," before heading upstairs, shouting "Karin! Yuzu! Dad!?" His sisters' room was empty and he noticed oddly now only had half the things it used to, namely Yuzu's. It was when he checked his own room and found that it held the other half, Karin's, and that all his things were gone, that he became truly creeped out. "What the hell is going on?"

"Ichigo!" Rukia abruptly called, "You should come see this!"

He hurried back downstairs to find Rukia by the dinner table. In front of her was a small map of Karakura, a spot placed on it in the Mashiba neighborhood in black marker and an address scrawled next to it. The words "Better hurry!" were written and circled below. Ichigo snatched it up thoughtlessly as a rising fear overtook him and immediately ran out the door, Rukia following along right behind him.

* * *

They arrived on the opposite street corner from the place some minutes later, panting and out of breath, finding it to be what looked like a recently renovated house.

"Ichigo," Rukia got out, "We have to be smart about this! Ichigo, listen to me! We don't know what's in there and they must know we're coming!" Something tugged at her awareness then, but she dismissed it.

He managed to calm himself long enough to look at her and nod, and after a moment to steady themselves, they walked with forced casualness across the street and slipped into bushes that were alongside the house. There, for want of a better mechanism, Ichigo and Rukia both grasped the former's _Daikō_ badge and used it to eject their souls, leaving their respective body and _gigai_ in the brush. With any luck, even though their _reiatsu_ could be tracked and their presence was surely known, whoever was inside might not expect them to be non-corporeal.

Both drew their _zanpakutō_ , gleaming with purpose in the light of the nearly full-moon, and quickly but quietly made their way to the front door, taking up positions on either side of it. The lights of the house were off and they could hear nothing from inside. Ichigo glanced at Rukia with lethal determination and she returned the look before nodding. With that, Ichigo opened the door with a chop as a distraction while both of them phased through the walls on either side of it. They arrived in a completely dark room, swords at the ready, neither seeing nor hearing anything.

It was then that the lights flipped on to a cacophonous cry of "Surprise!" and they found themselves holding their swords to a full arc of their friends, Ichigo's family, and the Urahara Shop crew. Isshin, Karin, Yuzu, Inoue, Ishida, Chad, Tatsuki, Keigo, Mizuiro, Urahara, Yoruichi, Tessai, Jinta, and Ururu were all assembled and cheering for them happily.

Ichigo almost dropped Zangetsu in shock and fell back against the wall, sliding to the floor, finding his heart was hammering, feeling Rukia drop down next to him, both panting as whatever the spiritual equivalent of adrenaline was dumped into their systems.

The happy cheers turned then into a din of gradually increasing concern: "Hey, why are you both in spirit form?" "Ichigo, Rukia! Are you okay?" "What's with the _zanpakutō_?" "Ichi- _nii_ , Rukia _nee-san_ , what's wrong?!"

Rukia brought a hand up to cover her eyes and started to laugh in pure relief, letting go of Sode no Shirayuki, instinctively finding Ichigo's free hand and gripping it tightly. He gripped back and started to laugh with her, letting go of Zangetsu and likewise shading his face against the light to keep everyone from seeing his worry. The pair kept laughing as their friends and family crowded around them, now showing boundless concern as something was definitely wrong with them if they were holding hands so brazenly.


	12. 2-12: Burnin' For You

**A/N:** **Thank you for any and all** **reviews, favorites, and follows, as well as all you other readers out there!**

 ** _Bleach_ and all products thereof are copyright to Tite Kubo, et al.**

* * *

 **Saturday, February 15, 2003**

The throng that surrounded Ichigo and Rukia consisted of most of the other attendants of the surprise party. Only the Urahara Shop group, Keigo, and Mizuiro kept their distance.

Yoruichi smacked Urahara upside the head and scolded him: "I told you it was a stupid idea; you almost scared them half to death!" Tessai, Ururu, and Jinta just nodded in agreement with her, defecting from any defense of their boss.

"Was that a joke?" Mizuiro asked quietly, earning a mild glare from Yoruichi in turn.

"Maybe using the prototype copy of the _reiatsu_ jammer under the circumstances was a mistake," the shopkeeper admitted, looking down at the floor. He had made his own area-of-effect version using a unique combination of _kidō_ after being inspired by the one he had seen on Ichigo and assumed had also been on Alan in some form. It probably differed in operation and wasn't yet perfected, but it had served to hide their collective presence well enough.

His motivation for using it had been rather straight-forward: it was hardly a surprise party if you could sense everyone you knew was waiting for you! That said it was perhaps predictable considering the map that had been left at the Kurosaki household and the stress that Rukia and Ichigo were under that they would have assumed the absolute worst. Certainly it was in hindsight. It was an unfortunate confluence of events.

"Did you see the look on their faces when the lights came on?" Keigo whimpered, "I'm gonna have nightmares about that for weeks!" His friends had, for a split second, both looked to him to have been ready to kill anyone and everyone they encountered inside, human or otherwise, Shinigami vow or no.

"We've seen worse," Mizurio replied.

"I still have nightmares about that too!" Keigo protested.

There was another commotion near the door as Ichigo stood and helped Rukia up. Both were wiping at their eyes, before retrieving and sheathing their _zanpakutō_. The orange-haired Shinigami spoke in a way that remarkably betrayed nothing of the subtle tremors that shook him, except through his sudden forced good humor. "Everyone, thank you, thank you so much. This is a great surprise. As you can see, um, Rukia and I aren't quite dressed appropriately, so if you'll excuse us for a moment…"

The pair exited the room to only mild protests. Yoruichi turned from the sight back to Urahara, saying simply "Urahara Kisuke, you're going to apologize for almost ruining their evening." No verbal threat was necessary: it radiated off of her every curve and angle just from the way she stood. Urahara adjusted his hat downward.

Nobody had noticed the badge on Ichigo's left arm or what it had read except for the people who already knew or had some idea what it meant and Ishida.

* * *

After getting around one corner of the building on the way back to the bushes they'd entered the premises through, Ichigo stopped and abruptly hugged Rukia, still jittery. She didn't protest at all and hugged back. They stood that way for a moment until Ichigo whispered "Thank you, for—"

"Don't be a fool," Rukia whispered back, before reluctantly letting go and continuing on "They'll come gawk if we take too long."

Ichigo followed along silently. They got back into their physical forms and after brushing leaves and other debris off of themselves and one another, walked back to the party that was waiting for them.

* * *

On their return they entered like they'd won a competition and were all cheer and smiles, rather uncharacteristically giving out hugs at the effort everyone had obviously expended in setting up. There was, in addition to a spread of cake, the usual party-décor of balloons, various snacks, and assorted (non-alcoholic) drinks. After the experience earlier in Soul Society, both were thankful for the discretion of the older attendants. Nobody mentioned that they were both still slightly shaking or that they were trying a bit too hard.

Urahara quietly but forcefully apologized to each for having alarmed them, only for each to readily excuse him in the interest of getting on with the night. At last coming back together with Rukia, Ichigo decided to address the elephant in the room: "So, uh, whose house is this anyway?"

At this there was silence. Before anyone else could say anything Karin let out a huff and said "Don't be stupid, it's yours, Ichi- _nii_ ; yours and Rukia- _nee_ 's." Everyone else suddenly chimed in with acknowledgement and surprise the pair didn't already know.

Ichigo and Rukia both laughed nervously at this and felt their shakes start up again; Ichigo smiled with what he hoped wasn't obvious fear and rubbed the back of his head. He found he could only say "What?"

"It was a present from your new boss!" Isshin declared with meaning that was truly intended only for the duo. He then likewise gave them a cover story: "Urahara- _san_ called and informed me that you were back in fighting shape and said Soul Society had put it together as a welcome-back present for you and Kuchiki- _san_ while she helped you get reoriented! Kuchiki- _taichō_ wouldn't possibly let his sister sleep in a closet again and well, it's small thanks for the hero who saved three worlds! And then the movers were already showing up for your things so we all decided to make an event of it!"

It was a big lie, but as it happened, big lies could work precisely because they could be so big nobody wanted to believe they were lies. And it was a big lie sprinkled with just enough truth to sound real.

"That's right," Urahara said, going along with it without skipping a beat.

"That's so nice of them!" Inoue said.

"Very generous indeed," Ishida said, pushing up his glasses. It was clear, subtly at least, that he didn't fully believe it at all.

Everyone else chose to believe, or at least chose to put on the appearances of doing so. The Urahara Shop crew knew better, as did Rukia and Ichigo, but all of them joined Ishida, Isshin, and Urahara in keeping up the illusion.

"I can't believe the old man would spring for something like this!" Ichigo said, forcing surprise into his voice.

"I bet _nii-sama_ picked it out, it looks very tasteful!" Rukia said, finally truly looking at the room they were in. It wasn't really a lie. It was fully furnished and decorated in a style that was an interesting mix of contemporary and traditional. It struck just the right balance between being comfortable and classy, livable and restrained. It did in fact look like something her brother might have put together. _Is this really the work of that guy?_

Internally, she and Ichigo both decided to defer judgment on this turn of events for the moment, even as they both fretted over having to mislead some of their friends.

"So, who wants cake?!" Isshin demanded. At this, there was truly genuine excitement from all parties.

* * *

It was an hour later when their guests began to drift out. The Urahara Shop group left first, citing the need to do an inventory in the morning or some other such nonsense. When Ichigo had asked Yoruichi where she'd been, she'd just smiled and said "Tell you about it some other time," and she had departed with them.

Chad, Inoue, Ishida, Keigo, Mizuiro, and Tatsuki all left as a group after trying to force Ichigo and Rukia to agree to hang out with them the next day. The pair had done their very best to be polite but noncommittal, but ultimately agreed they would at least try. It was as they were leaving that Isshin asked Tatsuki if she wouldn't walk with Yuzu and Karin since she lived so close by. Tatsuki agreed and Karin protested the need for an escort but was successfully mollified when the older teen promised she'd show her a few karate moves on the way.

This left Rukia and Ichigo with just Isshin facing away from them at the door, watching his daughters and the pair's friends leave. Once they were some distance away he said "I'm not angry, if that's what you're worried about."

Ichigo blinked and Rukia let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding.

The former _taichō_ turned and regarded them both with one of his few serious looks, as if considering for a moment. He finally smirked while looking at Ichigo, saying "Besides, even if I was, you'd just give me some line like 'I did what I had to do' or something like that and really, who am I to argue?"

" _Oto-san_ …" Ichigo muttered in wonder at his father's sudden maturity, meeting his gaze directly.

"Just don't get yourself killed, your mother would never forgive me," Isshin said with casual indifference but deep meaning. At this he looked to Rukia and smiled kindly. It seemed he was about to say something similarly unusual but at last he simply bowed deeply, saying only "Thank you."

"K—Kurosaki- _san_ …" Rukia began to protest, not knowing what to make of it.

Isshin stood and looked at the pair now much more critically, and opened his mouth as if to say something else, before shutting it and simply smiling in a way neither found they quite liked. With that he waved a hand as he turned and said "Goodnight," shutting the door behind him as he left. It clicked, self-locking.

The pair were left to look at one another, not sure what to make of the man's highly uncharacteristic attitude. It was as they stood in silence that the weight of their day began to finally tell upon them, both realizing that they were once more exhausted, just as they had been earlier.

"Rukia, let's investigate this place and clean up this stuff in the morning," Ichigo said, fatigue creeping into his voice. The cake and snacks, at least, had been completely demolished, and their friends and family had been unusually neat, so there was no real risk of anything spoiling or setting.

She nodded sleepily, before blinking. "Ichigo, what if that guy only gave us one bedroom…" she trailed off, blushing at the thought.

Ichigo caught her meaning without comment and looked around. They would have to do at least some token exploration. They had entered through what been a small partially-enclosed garden into a rather large multi-purpose room. This was divided into an entrance area and into a spacious living room. Above the entry area was a loft with a small stairway leading up to it. It appeared to be some kind of reading area. To the right of the entryway was a closet, and to the left was a door that they discovered led to a half-bathroom.

Continuing on to the right from the entrance there was a kitchen complete with breakfast bar which fed into a rather ample dining room. The dining room in turn faced into the living room. A glance into the kitchen showed it had a door opposite the dining room that presumably led to utilities and a pantry. Adjoining the living room, opposite the entrance, there was a set of doors that clearly led to a porch and a compact walled-in backyard.

Further to the left of the entryway was an alcove set into the wall, and there was an identical alcove coming off the left side of the living room. Both had two doors facing one another that couldn't really be seen into from the main room. They went to the one that went off the entryway and found the outside room appeared to be a rather neutral looking guest bedroom, while the inside room seemed to be a home office of some sort.

Going to the other alcove, they discovered two bedrooms. One of these, by virtue of having his things in it and more besides that matched his tastes, was very clearly Ichigo's. The other, given its décor which prominently but still tastefully featured Chappy, was very clearly Rukia's. They looked back from the rooms to one another, something unsaid passing between them before Ichigo said "Well, I guess that guy wasn't such a jerk after all…I'll see you in the morning then, Rukia."

"…Yeah," she replied, and they split off into their new rooms, shutting the doors behind them. Ichigo didn't really note much immediately about it except that it apparently held both an en suite bathroom and wardrobe in addition to all of his things, except for his bed, which had been replaced by a very similar looking but queen-sized one. He was too tired to think on the implications of that and just fell onto it without bothering to do anything else but take off the glasses.

 _It's been entirely too long a day_ , he thought. He could feel his eyes start to close when he heard the door quietly open again. He turned his head to see Rukia standing there just as she had been a moment ago, the moonlight lighting up one side of her face. Her expression was placid, but her eyes had a look of determination in them as she looked at him, like she had decided on something and would see it through. "Rukia?" he asked.

She walked into the room and up to his bed, and he found that once again on this up-and-down day his heart was suddenly pounding. She sat down on the edge of the bed, facing away from him and not saying anything, her hands gripping the sides.

Ichigo sat up at this, what had been just a moment prior a building embarrassment instantly converting into worry. "Hey, Rukia, what's wrong?" he asked again, and he reached out a hand to put on her shoulder in comfort right as she turned and brought a single finger gently to rest against his lips.

He let out a stunned protest only to earn a soft "Shh," from her as she leaned in, looking at him closely. Her eyes closed as her finger withdrew and her hand slid behind his neck, lightly gripping there. She began to move him and move with him. Ichigo found he was far was too shocked to stop whatever she intended, and even more shocked to find he had no interest in doing so, and so after a brief shuffle he found himself laying on his side with her. Rukia held his head to just above her chest and buried her face into his hair. He could hear her heart race in time with his own, could feel her breath wind through his locks of hair.

He found himself glad she was so much shorter than him because his mind had gone elsewhere. Hesitantly at first he slid his arms up and around her as best he could, feeling her pulse start to gradually dampen as he did so. After awhile he brought his lower torso and legs up to brace against hers, and she curled up tighter with him then. The _reiatsu_ of both seemed to intertwine and condense with them as they did so physically, leaving each of them enveloped in the presence of the other.

They held each other close in silence and darkness, both slowly relaxing. The longer he listened to Rukia's breathing and heartbeat the more Ichigo felt like he was being hypnotized by it, like it was draining all the day's tension away from him. His eyelids grew heavy at the sound and he felt his grip on her slacken. _Rukia…I couldn't decide if this was one of the best days I've ever had or one of the worst_ , he found himself thinking, _thank you…for making it clear…_ and so he fell asleep in his partner's arms, she not long behind him.

* * *

The cityscape abruptly ended at a street and a sidewalk, and beyond was a vast and lush if orderly snow-dusted landscape. The effect was reminiscent of something like New York's Central Park in a mild winter, but it was as if the city and park both went on parallel to one another forever. Although the light snowfall that fell on the park that never seemed to accumulate would blow over into the city, the city itself seemed to exist in the late summer. Two worlds, they sat side-by-side, both joined and not.

On the snow-crusted grass that ran right up to the sidewalk a figure knelt of great feminine refinement, clothed in a white _kimono_ , her hair a matching shade. A masculine figure was laying in front of her on the sidewalk, also clad almost entirely in white, his head upon her lap. His eyes were closed and he seemed to sleep, and she brushed her fingers across his forehead and through his white hair soothingly, smiling faintly down at him.

After a moment, she looked up to the fluttering black coat of a man across the t-shaped intersection they faced. He was looking directly away from them, as if he was watching something infinitely far away up street. Sode no Shirayuki looked back down to the figure that slept against her, and felt that although she didn't know the story of all that had happened, she finally understood Zangetsu.

* * *

 **Sunday, February 16, 2003**

Rukia woke gradually, not coming to consciousness all at once but rather in a smooth gradient. By the time she opened her eyes to find a splash of orange hair greeting her, she had already long since taken in its smell, had become aware of Ichigo's warmth and light grip, of his breath against her shirt, of his heartbeat. Her cheeks were tinged with red, but not from unease. Slowly flexing her muscles from head to toe and finding she hadn't slept awkwardly, she lightly brushed her hands against his back and absent-mindedly nuzzled his hair.

Sunlight was filtering into the room through a window and through its degree and color she found herself cognizant that it was mid-morning at the earliest. They hadn't moved at all during the night and were still just curled up against one another atop the bed. She became aware of the difference in temperature between her back and front and whispered "It's a good thing you double as a space-heater," to Ichigo's sleeping form before kissing the top of his head.

He shifted at this and she could tell from his subtle movements that he was waking up too. She smiled and let him do so in his own time, just observing. After some minutes he seemed to tense for a second before slowly tilting his head back to look up at her. "Hey," was all she said to him as she caught sight of his brown eyes.

"Hey," he replied, looking back up at her. They stared at one another for awhile, and Rukia could feel a coy smile was slowly forming on her face. She was convinced that sooner or later he'd say something stupid to ruin the moment and the longer he went without doing it, the happier it made her.

"What?" he asked, his smile coming to reflect hers.

She shook her head softly and gave the back of his neck a single final brush, gave him one final look, before unwinding her limbs from him and sitting up. He sat up with her, and soon they were sitting on the side of the bed side-by-side. She was about to say something when she felt his arm reassuringly come around her shoulders.

"Come on," he said as she turned to look at him, "Let's check this place out." She smiled at him and nodded.


	13. 2-03: State Of The Art

**A/N:** **Thank you for any and all** **reviews, favorites, and follows, as well as all you other readers out there!**

 _ **Bleach**_ **and all products thereof are copyright to Tite Kubo, et al.**

* * *

 **Sunday, February 16, 2003**

Ichigo and Rukia poked around the former's room first, discovering that in addition to some new furniture he did indeed have both an adjoining full bathroom and a walk-in closet. All of his things had been arranged as near as possible to how they had been in the Kurosaki household. A few new outfits and accessories seemed to have been added to his wardrobe, including one that looked suspiciously like the uniform Alan had worn. Rukia tried to imagine how her partner would look in it and found she liked the thought—he'd look rather quite dashing and the blue would nicely compliment his orange hair…

"What?" Ichigo asked her when he noticed her just staring at it as if in a daydream.

"Don't intrude on a woman's thoughts!" she said with annoyance, but the mental image of dashing Ichigo was gone.

Deciding not to press the matter, Ichigo went back into the room proper. He noticed that even the chocolates she'd given him were where he'd left them on the desk, even as the desk itself had been moved. He hadn't had time to try any of them yet. What was new was that beside them was a letter. Raising an eyebrow, Ichigo walked over and picked it up. Rukia meanwhile busied herself nosily looking through his clothes. "Hey, when did you buy suits?" she called.

"I didn't," he replied, opening the letter. Inside were two different documents. The first was a brief note in Japanese reading:

Couldn't adjust your acting pay-grade, was able to up the benefits package.  
–Alan  
P.S. Be aware they may still be listening in on you through your old badge.

Ichigo frowned at both lines. Regarding the first, he didn't like evidence that forced him to imagine the man as being anything other than a conspiratorial nemesis, no matter how true or irrefutable it was. Regarding the second, what was that supposed to mean? He put it aside for a moment and looked at the other document. It was a folded balance sheet for a bank account with a linked JCB credit and debit card in his name attached. He opened the sheet and determined his salary would be directly deposited into the account and utility costs would be withdrawn directly from it. He froze as his eyes scanned over the existing balance. He could only proclaim "What?!"

Rukia poked her head out from the closet, asking "What is it?" When Ichigo didn't respond she came over and looked at the sheet he was holding at, finding it listed the balance as ¥3,000,000.00. "Eh?!" she responded, looking at it in similar shock.

Ichigo exhaled at her sudden presence, deciding to get it over with, and handed her the note, saying "It came with this."

She scanned over it, frowning curiously at the first line and rather clearly cringing at the second. After a second she looked up at him with a guilty expression. "I…"

"Hey, it wasn't your idea right?" Ichigo said with a small smile. It didn't bother him: Ukitake had given him the badge, he was now working with Ukitake and would tell him whatever he found out anyway as part of his job, and he hadn't had it on or near his person much in the time since he'd been depowered until just the other day, which was when this had all kicked off anyway. Alan's casual mention of it seemed to indicate he, and his superiors, didn't care either, which was notable in itself.

Rukia looked down at the floor. "After you lost your powers," she muttered, "Ukitake- _taichō_ let me have the receiver." There had been no great need for it to be retained in an official capacity anymore, not that it had ever really provided much information.

This time, Ichigo chose to engage, and leaned down a little so they were at eye level with one another, saying "Why did you want it?"

Her eyes shifted back to him, brows knitting in irritation at how he was teasing her even as at the same time she found herself kind of enjoying him starting to stand up to her again. "To hear your voice," she said primly.

"I didn't know you liked my voice that much," Ichigo said plainly.

"Who said I liked it, fool?" Rukia replied, adopting a haughty expression and crossing her arms.

Ichigo would historically have escalated into a shouting match, but after the events of the past few days, he adopted a new tactic. He leant further forward and brought his lips up to beside one of her ears, their cheeks ever so slightly brushing. He could feel a sudden heat radiating from her face as if she'd thought he'd do something else. "Guess you must want me to shut up then," he said in the same tone.

"Maybe you should," she hissed, albeit playfully.

"Thing is, I'm not sure how to, maybe you can help?" he replied with just a hint of smugness.

"Maybe I'll consider that after you brush your teeth," she shot back.

She had him then, verbally at least, simply because there was no comeback he could make that wouldn't offend her and give her a pretext for injuring him. She also had a point: it'd been over a day since he'd last brushed. Sometimes discretion was the better part of valor, but she had also left him an opening, and so he simply stood without a word and went around her before she could respond, going to the bathroom, locating his toothbrush, and starting in.

Rukia, while quietly impressed at his new directness, left to go check out her room while he was distracted. She'd scarcely set foot in it the night before. It too was equipped with a full bathroom and a walk-in closet, and she figured the rooms were either the same size or very close to it. Since she'd had no personal effects to bring over, it had been outfitted completely from scratch. The furniture was cute and feminine but in a broadly more sophisticated rather than a girly way, featuring a lot of cherry wood and patterned fabrics. Most of these were, admittedly, of Chappy, although there were a few abstract ones to break it up. The bed was queen size and she had two night tables, several dressers, an armoire, a desk, and more.

It was the contents of the closet and drawers that really floored her though: a complete wardrobe from top to bottom had been assembled for her, and she found she liked everything about it and that it looked like it would all fit to boot. It was completely impossible that guy had selected everything in here for her and if he somehow had right down to the pajamas and underwear she decided then and there that she would murder him despite his complete understanding of her taste and her vow to protect humans. No, somewhere within SOCOM's operations, it was clear there was at least one woman's touch. Rukia was convinced.

She was pulling out various dresses to inspect them more thoroughly when she heard Ichigo's shower start up. Apparently he'd decided that if he was going to clean up in one way he might as well in another. It had been a day since they'd dressed and showered and even though the cold weather had been to their benefit neither could've been described as fresh after their panic the night before, so Rukia picked out a few things from her new set of clothes, closed her door, and likewise went to go shower.

She had not noticed that there was a service uniform in her closet just like in Ichigo's, and even if she had, she wouldn't have known its pattern was that of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force.

* * *

By the time Rukia was finished and opened the door Ichigo had already long-since finished and had cleaned up the living room, dining room, and kitchen from the previous night's party rather than choosing to explore without her. Reunited, they decided to investigate the house they'd come into possession of.

The living room had spacious and comfortable seating and an entertainment center that had every convenience, featuring a large flat-screen TV that appeared to get satellite reception and was also hooked up to both a PS2 and GameCube, although there were no games to be found. It seemed they had finally found a limit to the US government's generosity, although perhaps it was to keep them from slacking off as much as anything else.

The backyard featured a covered deck with some chairs and a small grill, and led down to a compact garden structured around an ornamental pond with a little burbling waterfall. It was rather tranquil.

The kitchen was robustly stocked with cooking implements and its door did in fact lead to a utility room complete with washer and dryer, and a pantry which had some rudimentary nonperishable foodstuffs but was largely empty. The refrigerator and freezer had been similarly rather barebones in their stock.

The reading area featured both upright and reclining chairs and a small library of various famous and classical Japanese-language works of fiction and poetry, with some empty space for new additions.

The guest bedroom, on closer inspection, had a bathroom just like their own, and its neutral and stately furnishings were clearly intended to not offend guests of any sort. It seemed that their long history of receiving visitors had been duly noted.

It was the office which received their attention last. It featured two large desks opposite one another, each with a high-backed office chair and new if seemingly-standard Dell PCs, along with space to lay out documents. It also had a landline phone, a printer, and a fax machine, and a safe that was at present unlocked. Inside were the three folders of Ichigo's previous 'homework'—including the official history, which had apparently been returned to its proper housing—and a few new ones besides, along with a card on top detailing how to set the combination lock.

The office was stocked with its own library. The selection of books was a very strange and eclectic collection: various kinds of military field and reference manuals, dictionaries, atlases, geopolitical texts, philosophy books, mythology compendiums, science references, and the like. Most of them were in Japanese but a few, particularly the military works, were in English (these also being very clearly standard US military documents), and he spotted both a Japanese-English dictionary and a few books on learning English among the mix as well. It was clearly meant for the two of them to both use and learn from.

It was while looking at the books that Ichigo noticed there was one particular bit of the floor in a weird area that sounded kind of different when it was walked on. He tapped his foot around trying to determine the extent of it and eventually figured out he was a square about 3 centimeters on a side. Rukia looked at him like he was crazy while he did so, but he ignored her for the moment. He tried tapping his foot on it twice and it suddenly pushed in.

"What did you do to the floor?!" Rukia exclaimed, both in surprise and irritation that he was somehow already breaking the house— _our house._

"It's some kind of switch," he said. He withdrew his foot in confusion only to see the floor slide back and a metallic pillar ascend from it up to about waist height.

Rukia walked up to him as they both stood and considered it. "What does it do?" she asked after a moment. Mounted on top of the pillar was a numeric keypad and an LCD display that had four underscored spaces for numbers.

"Dunno," Ichigo replied.

"It wants a four-digit number?" she said quizzically.

"This place was set up for us, so I guess it'd be something we'd both know?" Ichigo pondered.

They tried punching in each other's respective birthdays ("1507" and "1401") as much to prove they knew them as anything else, and found it didn't recognize either. "Hey, wait, Americans give the date as month, day, year, and not day, month, year," Ichigo suddenly remembered. He had noticed that that order had been specified on his contract paperwork and had found it weird. They tried again in the opposite order ("0715" and "0114"), and still nothing happened, the system rejecting both numbers immediately again.

Rukia cupped her chin in thought. "If it's not our birthdays, what could it be that we should both know?"

Ichigo looked sideways at her for a moment, before smiling. He tried punching in "0518." The number held for a second, then flashed. "First day we met," Ichigo said, proud of himself, "Friday, 18th of May, 2001."

Rukia smiled softly at the fact he remembered such a thing. Before she could say anything, the display shifted to displaying "WAIT" and there was a series of chunky mechanical noises behind them. They turned with newfound trepidation. A square section of the floor about a meter on a side in the center of the room retracted down and slid away, revealing what looked like a very deep hole. The pair cautiously crept over to it and looked down. A square ring of white LEDs lit up on the sides, followed by another a half meter down, and so on in rapid succession. The shaft was at least 50 meters deep. There was no visible means of descent

Raven and One looked at one another, both finding their new house suddenly much creepier, before looking back down the shaft. It was now clear that the bottom of it was rapidly coming up to meet them, causing them both to move away in distrust. A metal platform suddenly came up flush with the floor. It had another similar pillar on it which only had an up and down button. There was enough space for them both to stand on what was clearly an elevator. After sharing another look and exchanging a weary sigh, they both walked onto it, face to face, and Ichigo pushed the down button. They were whisked downward at an alarming rate, the lights rushing past them.

The elevator slowed down as they apparently approached the bottom, bringing them to a very soft brake. They were in the middle of a square room significantly larger than the office. A hallway bisected the room at either end, lights in the floor leading off in both directions. There were white overhead lights as well, and the entire space was well-lit if sterile-looking, as the place seemed to be made mostly of metal and plastic. Looking around, they could see the room was mirrored about the walkway that denoted the exits: the left was the same as the right. It was then that they both noticed what covered the walls.

The walls were lined with all kinds of guns, none of which looked like traditional military hardware as Ichigo was familiar with it through video games and movies. Ichigo thought some of them resembled the Morning Star and the Moonlight Scythe he had seen Alan with. Rukia thought she saw ones she had seen in visions of the man's memories. They were very clearly mounted in a fashion that was logical to somebody, becoming more lethal-looking toward the axis that was perpendicular to the hallway.

Exactly perpendicular to the hallway, on either side of the elevator, were two large cases made of what appeared to be glass, except it was an opaque, reflective black, like one might see on the windows of a luxury car, glinting in the static lighting. There was something stenciled on each of them in matte red lettering. Ichigo approached one to read it more clearly and found it read: "IN CASE OF APOCALYPSE BREAK GLASS."

Ichigo frowned severely at that because it seemed like a bad joke. He leaned forward, trying to peer through the glass as to what might possibly be inside. Nothing was visible whatsoever. He noticed in the reflection that Rukia's head was right beside his and started in surprise as she pointed and asked "What does 'apocalypse' mean?" Her English was still extremely limited, which possibly explained some of the books upstairs.

"It means 'the end of the world'," he said, before stepping back and grimacing at the black glass "What the hell is in this thing, and why are there two?"

"I think we're not supposed to know unless we break into it, which we're not supposed to do unless the world is ending apparently, so…" Rukia said with disbelief, before looking to the one on the opposite side, which was identical in every way. "I'm guessing we each get one side."

"This place gives me the creeps," Ichigo muttered.

They split up and surveyed the collection of softly backlit weapons, noticing that there were also various lockers and footlockers repeated on either side. Opening them revealed other kinds of gear, from what looked to be various kinds of munitions, to outfits like the one Ichigo had seen Alan in, to armored pieces of some kind. The size of the clothing, at least, indicated which side was supposed to be whose.

After some minutes they reconvened at the center of the room, considering the hallways. Before he could say something Rukia grabbed his wrist and led him down one. After a gradual curve to the right, they found themselves looking at what appeared to be an automated shooting gallery with space for two shooters. It was at least 50 meters long.

Promptly turning around and heading the other way, back through the gun room to the other hallway, they went along a gradual curve to the left that led them to what was a comparatively traditional looking _dōjō_ , although there were still clearly hints of Western design in it, particularly in the continued clinical lighting. It was roughly a cube that was about 10 meters long on every side, and had a small second tier walkway that could be reached by ladder.

They looked at one another in unspoken agreement and again promptly left, returning to the elevator and getting on it before Ichigo pushed up. Within seconds they were back in the office, and after they had stepped off the elevator it again rushed down, the floor closing up over it, and the pillar sinking back into the floor. Just like that it was simply an office again. Ichigo pulled out one of the office chairs for Rukia and then the other for himself, and they sat and looked at each other in silence for awhile.

"Ichigo, what have we gotten ourselves into?" Rukia said at last.

Ichigo just sighed, before saying "We don't tell _anyone_ about that."

Rukia just nodded seriously.

They sat with their own thoughts for awhile, finally letting themselves reflect on how they truly felt about their new circumstances.

The house was nice enough. It was clear that the expense of having acquired, refurbished, and outfitted it for them had not bothered their SOCOM benefactors—neither knew much about logistical costs, either in the Living World or Soul Society, let alone in major organizations, but it was rather evident this was viewed as simply an operating expense in the name of getting them established and not an effort to buy them off. Alan's note had probably been with regard to Ichigo's "sign-up bonus" and the extent of the furnishings and accoutrements provided to them. Those had also been a statement in their own way: they reflected the selections of people who had observed them for quite some time and in some detail to know them and their tastes so well.

That was also reflected in how they had been maneuvered into being here. SOCOM had approached Ichigo during a moment of weakness and had positioned things such that he would, of his own accord, do exactly what they wanted. Things were such that they had gotten Soul Society to do the same: there had been a sense of obligation to both Ichigo and Rukia, and so they had been reunited with just the simplest of pushes, and circumstances had been exactly such that they had been placed under stress together and…

Neither was willing to admit what was going on between them yet, either to themselves or to each other, but while carefully avoiding looking directly at the subject and merely skirting around it mentally, it was clear that their history and emotions had also been used to move them just so too. They had instinctually noticed it happening and it remained their primary source of antagonism with Alan, even if he himself was gone.

It was now that they both independently transitioned from holding that as an assessment of him to holding it as an assessment of his organization. Although neither knew it, they were sharing the same thought: _a military organization playing matchmaker, how ridiculous!_

It was very reminiscent of Aizen, but at the same time it wasn't. Aizen had had no compunction with using his abilities destructively even when there were clear alternatives simply because he could. Aizen had had no regard for the feelings or wellbeing of others. Aizen had had no issues with gloating about his accomplishments, or taking credit for things that even he had not easily predicted. SOCOM had moved them like pieces on a board, but in a rather more thoughtful way, and having achieved its goal of bringing them together was now quite content to let them develop as they might…and seemingly willing to reveal more of its hand.

The space below that neither of them wanted to much think about was evidence of as much. Nobody would turn over such a ridiculously dangerous assortment of hardware to people that were not, in some way, trusted implicitly. The limited nature of the facilities below—how long had this place been being prepared anyway to have all that?—indicated they were supplementary rather than all-encompassing: they were expected to utilize Urahara's training room and perhaps Soul Society's facilities as well. But if SOCOM intended to tell them more, there was as yet no evidence of it they had yet seen.

It dawned on Ichigo first, if only because he was somewhat more familiar with computer technology than Rukia, the Shinigami efforts at such being concentrated in the 12th Division. "Rukia," he said, looking up at his partner directly and drawing her out of her own contemplation, "I'm sure whatever they intend to tell us is on these machines."

He reached back and pressed the power button of one. After having watched him do it, Rukia nodded and did the same.


	14. 2-04: Land Of Confusion

**A/N:** **Thank you for any and all** **reviews, favorites, and follows, as well as all you other readers out there!**

 ** _Bleach_ and all products thereof are copyright to Tite Kubo, et al.**

* * *

 **Sunday, February 16, 2003**

The two PCs booted up in a way that looked to Ichigo to be completely unremarkable. They appeared to run off Windows XP, and loaded quite quickly, and so in less than two minutes both he and Rukia were looking at desktops of grassy hills beneath a blue sky. They were apparently completely uncustomized, and only two icons were visible: the Recycle Bin, and a document that had a film reel icon and was labeled "Open Me."

"Rukia, use the mouse to select the second icon, and hit the enter key when I say so, okay?" Ichigo asked. He didn't think she'd ever used one of their computers before and didn't want to explain double-clicking yet. He didn't know that it was necessary for them to both open the files simultaneously, but he wanted to be sure whatever it did wasn't out of sync between them.

After a moment she simply said "Mmm," in agreement. It was relatively intuitive.

"Now," Ichigo said. Both of them hit enter.

A light came on at the top of each monitor then indicating the built-in cameras had turned on, and something else besides lit up from what looked like an infrared receiver port. They were both suddenly scanned by a beam whose effects visually resembled those of checkout counter lasers. After this a command prompt window appeared on each screen, many lines of text scrolling by too quickly to read before what seemed to be gibberish flowed past at an astonishing speed. The prompts closed, and a new program window that was completely black appeared. Their screens then both went black as it resized itself to fill them.

A flash of white played at the center of the screen, occluded by a black disk, only for the former to freeze on the latter's right side as a three-quarters visage of a skull faded into view on the left. Around these faded in a shield outline with a scroll along its bottom. The body of the shield was filled in by a starburst effect of purple on black, with the words 'NIGHTMARE ECLIPSE" appearing in the scroll in yellow-orange. The total animation took only two seconds and held for another two, before the screen cut to blue, yellow text reading 'TOP SECRET – US / SS EYES ONLY" and "Distribution F: Further dissemination only as directed by USSOCOM 02/15/03 or higher DoD authority." Ichigo noted the date was only the previous day. This screen held for a few more seconds.

They were then greeted by a tight-framed shot of a woman sitting at a desk. Behind her was a rather well-stocked bookshelf, and she was flanked on her right by what seemed to be an American flag and on her left a red one neither had ever seen before. She wore a uniform that was somewhat like Alan's in cut but sage green, with a tan dress shirt, and a sage neck tab instead of a tie. Instead of pins reading "U.S." on her jacket's lapels she had dark metal anchor, globe, and eagle insignias. She had an extensive panel of ribbons, but no name tag or other devices. On each shoulder strap she wore a single silver star.

She appeared to be in her mid-40s but there was a hardness in her expression and eyes that suggested she was somewhat older. Her skin was a warm caramel color, her eyes a light brown hazel, and her hair a sandy blonde, clipped into a short and conservative pixie cut. She was staring straight into the camera and Ichigo swore he could feel her intensity even separated in time and space and through a recording. He had met many, many strong people in his life, and this was without exception one of the most intimidating ones he had ever seen, male or female, and she achieved it purely through her stare.

Her expression loosened into a professional smile that had hints of genuine warmth in it, but her eyes did not change one iota. "Staff Sergeant Kurosaki Ichigo and Lieutenant Kuchiki Rukia," she began, speaking American English with a warm tone and the slightest hint of a twang. Ichigo wasn't that versed in American accents but he could place it as being of some sort of southern origin. She was being subtitled as she spoke, and it was clear it was pre-recorded and not a live transmission. Ichigo could hear her from both his front and back, as both computers were playing the same thing.

"I'm sure that by now you're both wondering what exactly this has been all about. Allow me to address some of your questions. I am Brigadier General Riley Richter of the United States Marine Corps, and I'm the commander of US Special Operations Command's paranormal and supernatural activities division, Nightmare Eclipse," she said, and Ichigo almost thought he could see a smirk at the corner of the woman's lips. The fact this woman was, in some way, his actual boss, or his boss's boss, or whatever, filled him with both awe and dread.

"Although neither of you are soldiers in the traditional sense, know that despite that I am aware of the actions you have undertaken and regard your experience with respect. In deference to that, I will make this brief. You are familiar with four realms of existence," she continued, and at this she faded away to a black screen, displaying a blue circle at its center, "Earth," which was surrounded by three others: a red one "Hell," a white one, "Hueco Mundo," and a dark grey one "and Soul Society."

Her voice continued over the image of these: "This picture is incomplete. You might have at some point asked yourself 'Why only four?' and in this case the answer is because that is the limit of your experience," she said. At that the screen filled up with more and more circles of various shades, and began to jump-cut outwards in stages to show more and more, until at last the screen was just a messy riot of pixilated color. Neither Ichigo nor Rukia had noticed one of first to fill in was labeled Gehenna, nor would it have meant anything to them if they had. The screen cut back to Brigadier General Richter.

"There is apparently no end to these realms. Many of these realms are dead, and just as many are not. Many of those that are not are, by now, inconsequential in comparison to Earth. As I'm sure you have ascertained, having been driven by military competition and necessity, Earth has rapidly expanded its capabilities in such matters and thus its prominence among these. Of course, as you at least may know, Staff Sergeant Kurosaki, that is not the only issue," she said, raising an eyebrow at the camera right as it cut away to blackness again.

An image of Earth from space appeared then, centered on Japan. It panned out rapidly, showing the Moon, until both disappeared from sight. What seemed to be the Sun zoomed by to become one star among many before being lost to view as the camera kept zooming out to encompass the entire Milky Way. Still the camera withdrew and soon the Milky Way was one galaxy among dozens, and then thousands, and the camera continued until what seemed to be a sort of glowing foamy filamentary structure filled the screen.

"The observable universe encompasses a light-cone of radius 13.7 billion light-years, although for various reasons, the actual physical dimensions of this volume are closer now to 46 billion light-years in radius. There is no indication that the total universe is anything less than infinite in scope," Brigadier General Richter said. Rukia knew essentially nothing of astronomy and so this was all news to her, and the terminology the woman used left her completely lost for the moment.

The screen went back to the Brigadier General, who now reclined somewhat in her chair, steepling her hands. "You can perhaps understand the scale of the problem: we live in an infinitely large realm, and there are an infinite number of realms—and in both infinities there are many unpleasant things, a few of which you are familiar with. As you might imagine," the Brigadier General paused for a moment, inclining her head and giving a small grin that was subtly wolfish, "we keep pretty busy dealing with that."

"Unfortunately," Brigadier General Richter glanced down, "the more successful we have become in securing Earth from outside interference in the course of securing ourselves against each other, the more attention we have drawn from outside. Although we have kept pace with these developments, a confluence of events is starting to strain not just our resources but those of our allies. The particulars of these don't concern you at the moment, but the gist is this: one, we don't have enough people to go around; and two, the people we do have are overcommitted."

The Brigadier General sat back up and resumed looking directly into the camera, saying "And that's where you come in. Although Soul Society's resources aren't prodigious, what it lacks in quantity, it somewhat makes up for in quality. And so you are going to help us help you help us…" the Brigadier General trailed off to indicate it was an ad nauseam, before giving a smile and look that made both Ichigo and Rukia's blood run cold "…because at the end of the day, it turns out we're all in the same boat."

There was a lingering pause then, before she let the smile leave her lips. "Your current mission regarding Xcution can be thought of as a training day; everyone has a vested interest in seeing both your capabilities develop more fully and in more ways than one. Once that has been achieved, we will assist as necessary in putting Soul Society's outstanding…issues…to order with the two of you as the tip of the spear of our efforts. When that has been addressed, we will move on to more pressing matters."

The Brigadier General held up a finger, "You no doubt wonder at the meaning of what I just said, and I can only tell you that you will be better informed as you gain the ability to meaningfully influence the outcome. In this capacity, you will have to trust me, just as I am placing trust in you."

"For now," she concluded, leaning back again in her chair, "the main thing that you should concern yourselves with is getting stronger. Resources have been prepared to assist you. Good luck, and good hunting," she concluded, and it seemed that a predatory grin crossed her lips right as the screen went black.

The window closed, and the pair found themselves looking at completely different desktops than they had started on. Ichigo's background was an abstract geometric pattern in black, red, and white, while Rukia's was a cute Chappy graphic. Both were filled with folders that had titles like "Basic Marksmanship," "Military Bearing," "Close Quarters Combat," and so on. Neither bothered to immediately investigate them, and both found themselves just staring at the screens in silence before turning their chairs to look at one another.

Neither said anything for awhile, still at a loss for words. Ichigo inhaled sharply and then let it out, saying only "That lady is scary."

Rukia crossed her legs and rested an elbow on one her chair's armrests, bringing a hand up to her chin as she considered her partner. "You should probably get used to calling her 'Brigadier General Richter' because if you think you can treat her the same way you do with calling Yamamoto- _sōtaichō_ ' _ojii_ ' she's definitely gonna kill you, in this world and every other," she deadpanned.

"Don't even joke about that," Ichigo retorted, crossing his arms.

"I think I like her," Rukia said, smiling.

" _Tch_ ," was all Ichigo said in response.

"Hey," Rukia said, pointing a finger at him and squinting, "What's a light-year?"

* * *

They had shut the machines off for the time-being and had gone to the living room to decompress after having had the structure of the cosmos explained to them. Rukia watched TV while Ichigo laid on the couch beside her, feet pointed towards her. They'd been given rather a lot to consider, and so they felt entitled to a break.

"Rukia," Ichigo said at last, "If we're gonna keep up some reasonable pretense of a cover story, you're probably gonna have to come back to school."

"Yes," she said absent-mindedly.

"And I'm probably gonna have to quit my job, there just won't be enough time in the day to do everything."

"Yes."

"And from what Karin said last night at the party she's been trying to help deal with Hollows, maybe she might be interested in working for Ikumi in my place…but then I bet they'd video-conference with Alan to conspire against me or something like that," he huffed.

"Yes," Rukia continued.

"Hey, you," Ichigo said, looking up at her as she continued watching TV, "are you even listening to me?"

At this, Rukia snapped her eyes over to him in a glare and in a smooth motion wrapped an arm around his ankles with surprising strength, before she began to mercilessly tickle his helpless feet. Ichigo immediately started to laugh and tried to kick and thrash as she berated him. "You think you're the only one with problems, Kurosaki Ichigo?! I just got told that the universe personally wants to murder me and _nii-sama_ and everybody else and that I have to get strong and deal with it, and you want to talk to me about your part-time job and how I have to pretend to be a high school student right now?!" she proclaimed, showing no signs of stopping in her torture.

"I—I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Ichigo managed between laughing fits, "Rukia, I'm sorry, please stop!"

She continued for a second before stopping, though she kept her arm clamped on his ankles for longer as a threat as he caught his breath. As she was finally letting go, he used her grip as leverage to do a sit up and managed to get his hands under her arms, tickling back. She immediately let out a squeak at the sensation and tried to go for his feet again, only to retarget his underarms in turn. They fell off the couch in a heap, each trying to tickle the other.

Fortunately, the living room was structured around an open area, so they didn't run into anything. The battle was vicious, and ultimately came down to Ichigo's superior strength and reach against Rukia's greater agility and inclination to violence.

In the end, Ichigo sat with only some of his weight on the small of Rukia's back, holding one of her legs by the ankle and tickling her foot while she writhed underneath him laughing and trying to grab for his feet in turn. After a minute of trying with all her might she couldn't take it anymore and declared between laughs "Okay you win!" and "Ichigo, stop!"

He immediately did so, letting her leg go, but stayed where he was for just a second. "Promise you won't start again?" he asked.

"I promise," she said, putting as much sincerity as she could into it.

Ichigo found he didn't quite believe it for some reason and, transferring most but not all of his weight onto his legs, pivoted so he was facing the same way she was, pinning her once more as she tried to grab at his feet again. "Something tells me you're not being honest," he said.

"I am, I swear, come on, you're not exactly light!" she said, even though he was putting less than half his weight on her and also wasn't particularly heavy.

Ichigo placed his hands on Rukia's upper back and started to gently massage her, "You tryin' to tell me to go on a diet?" he asked casually.

"N—no," she replied, caught off guard by the sudden change in sensations.

Ichigo let his fingers start to work her superior trapezius muscles around the base of her neck and shoulders. His touch remained considered as he didn't want to hurt her, but his grip firmed up. Although Rukia was both petite and lithe, she was quite fit and her _gigai_ reflected it. He quickly identified several knots, zeroing in on them to work them out.

Rukia let out a murmur at this but it was surprisingly relaxing; she'd never had a real back rub before, let alone a massage. She instinctively brought her arms up in front of her and crossed them to rest her head against them, giving Ichigo a bit more room to work with her neck.

Ichigo brought his hands up in turn, being very careful as he continued to loosen her neck muscles. "Promise you won't start again?" he asked more quietly.

"Mmm hmm," was all she said in response, tilting her head back a little and leaning into the massage.

"Want me to stop?" he asked as his hands dipped down to work along her clavicles.

"Don't you dare," she muttered.

Ichigo smirked and continued to massage her in silence, letting his hands go where he felt she was tensest. Rukia, in turn, did her damnedest not to let him hear her. They hadn't deliberately set out to distract one another, but it was what they naturally wound up doing. Several minutes later Ichigo was working around Rukia's shoulders and the latter had become quite relaxed against the rug.

"Hey, do you want to go hang out with everyone else?" he asked.

Rukia made a noncommittal noise in response.

"It can just be Chad, Inoue, and Ishida," Ichigo offered.

Rukia made the same noise again.

"You know if we just keep to ourselves they'll start talking…" Ichigo teased in caution.

Rukia got out something that sounded like "Let them talk." Ichigo smiled softly and returned his hands to her back, starting on her middle and inferior traps. "It's not fair," Rukia added at that, shifting under the new focus.

She sounded sleepy to Ichigo and he found it surprisingly cute. "We don't have to go. You sound pretty tired. Want me to carry you to bed, Kuchiki- _dono_?"

She surprised him then by turning around underneath him, having used one of his legs as a brace to rotate against by pushing with an arm and leg. He automatically moved his hands up toward her shoulders as she turned so he wouldn't be left with his hands dangerously close to her chest, and found himself looking down at her. She gazed up at him with an odd glint in her half-lidded ultramarine eyes and looked somewhere between pouty and amused. She lazily lifted an arm, bringing a finger to his nose. "Didn't I say that maybe you should shut up earlier?" she asked.

Ichigo blinked and then let a smirk play on his lips, tilting his head so that her finger brushed against them "I think it was determined I had some issue with that and needed assistance," he said idly, as if he couldn't quite recall.

Rukia withdrew her finger and gripped the collar of his shirt, pulling him down toward her. He gripped her shoulders and stopped himself with their noses just a few centimeters apart, his eyes searching in hers. "Well, you did brush your teeth," she whispered, before starting to tilt her head to one side. Ichigo found himself tilting his opposite as he slowly lowered himself down.

Both were closing their eyes as they were stopped by the sudden noise of their cell phones ringing. Both looked up toward the alcove that led to their bedrooms, and back to each other, determined not to lose the moment, but the phones just kept ringing and…

Rukia lightly pushed Ichigo off her with an aggravated cry. With a loud sigh he let her, coming to rest in a sitting position as she sat up next to him. They frowned heavily at each other and stood together to go get their phones, both quietly cursing that there would be hell to pay.


	15. 2-05: By My Side

**A/N:** **Thank you for any and all** **reviews, favorites, and follows, as well as all you other readers out there!**

 ** _Bleach_ and all products thereof are copyright to Tite Kubo, et al.**

* * *

 **Sunday, February 16, 2003**

Ichigo and Rukia both walked to the nearby restaurant they had, with extreme reticence and more than a little animus, agreed to meet Chad, Inoue, and Ishida at. It had been Chad who'd called Ichigo and Inoue who'd called Rukia, as if it had been calculated to reduce their ability to be outraged. The simultaneous nature of the calls indicated that it was, once more, a conspiracy of some sort that had befallen them.

Ichigo had his hands shoved in his pockets as he walked. _The entire universe is against us._ Rukia had her arms crossed. _I can't believe the nerve…!_ They walked side-by-side, together in resentment but separated physically. All of the few people they met, given the weather, were wise enough to get out of their way just from the looks they wore. Ichigo had not bothered to retrieve the glasses this time.

It turned out that the house they now occupied was rather centrally located both to Karakura itself and to their various interests in it; they were just about equidistant from everyone and everything. It occurred to them on some level as they walked that this was probably intentional.

They arrived at the appointed location somewhat later than they had grudgingly promised. They brought in with them a rather dire aura that seemed to make the chatter just a little bit quieter. The place in question was a domestic chain, MOS Burger, and it was decently busy for a Sunday lunch, mostly populated by people around Ichigo's age. He and Rukia grimly processed through the order line, getting a spicy cheeseburger and loin cutlet burger, respectively. Both got drinks, but only Ichigo got fries. Receiving their orders at last, they located their supposed friends and marched over as if going to their deaths, sitting down beside one another with their orders.

Chad, Inoue, and Ishida exchanged looks at the lethal silence and crabby expressions that their two long-time friends regarded them with. Putting this together with the tones of voice they'd had over the phone, they rapidly came to understand that they had interrupted something important. All three found they didn't dare address the matter, and so they awkwardly went back to their own meals.

Ever so slowly coming to regard the sheepishness of their friends as its own form of penitence, Rukia and Ichigo began to eat as well, Rukia persistently stealing Ichigo's fries while he was occupied with his burger. After the fifth time of glaring at her brash thievery, Ichigo finally spoke up: "You could have gotten your own, you know!"

Seeing an opportunity, and not wanting to lose it to a traditional round of their bickering, Ishida immediately interjected "Kurosaki- _kun_ , what's actually going on?" before fixing Ichigo with a serious stare.

Ichigo shifted his eyes to Rukia and they regarded one another for a time, their potato-based spat immediately forgotten, before Ichigo met Ishida's expectant look. It was clear from the set of his jaw and everything else in his face that the Quincy had been paying far more attention to goings-on than anybody else who didn't already know. Ichigo audibly took in a breath and closed his eyes, leaning back in his chair casually. He drummed his fingers on the table for a moment as if in thought. At last he opened his eyes to look at his one-time rival and spoke, his tone sober: "Godzilla is going to destroy Earth and the US Army has hired us to form a _sentai_ team to stop him."

Rukia felt her mouth drop both from how ridiculous and transparent a lie it was and also how dangerously close it was to the truth. She forced her jaw closed before anyone could notice.

Inoue leaped up at this, face gleaming, nearly knocking over the table "What?! No way! Can I join?! Come on, Kurosaki- _kun_ , please, please, please…"

Ishida slammed an open palm down on the table, face twisted in what looked like both frustration and annoyance. This behavior was all too typical. He either didn't notice or didn't care about the looks it drew from around them—more likely the latter. "We're your friends, damn it!" he growled. His tone was cool, but it was clear he was losing his reserve over the subject. That meant he'd probably noticed quite a lot. Ishida lifted his hand from the table and drew it into a fist, pulling it back toward him, frowning at his own outburst.

Inoue sat back down and lightly touched Ishida's other wrist in a calming gesture. The archer flicked his eyes to her, before studying both Ichigo and Rukia. _Here it comes_ , Ichigo thought, _the lecture_. They had done this dance many times and in this case he actually felt his friend had a right to be angry, so he sat passively and waited for it.

"Everyone knows how you were after you lost your powers," Ishida began, "And I think you know that we tried our best not to trouble you with things."

"I know," Ichigo replied, matching the Quincy's look levelly.

"And I think we can all guess that it had much the same effect on you, Kuchiki- _san_ ," Ishida said, his gaze flashing to the petite Shinigami.

Rukia said nothing, holding her look toward Ichigo.

Ishida pointed at Ichigo. "Day one, you're even more distracted and fidgety than usual. Day two, you show up wearing strange glasses and seem oddly happier—glasses you're not wearing now, I might note—and that night a still completely unexplained Hollow attack occurs only to end just as mysteriously as it began with some kind of unidentified and highly destructive _reiatsu_ discharge. Day three, Kuchiki- _san_ arrives to investigate and the two of you…" the Quincy paused, finger wavering for a moment, "behave highly uncharacteristically." He cleared his throat, before saying forcefully "Day four, you both disappear all day and the next thing we know we're called over to a party at a new house you've been gifted to celebrate the return of your powers! Do you think we're stupid, Kurosaki?"

"No," Ichigo said immediately.

"Ishida- _kun_ …" Inoue muttered, looking between the two men. Chad was looking down at the table as if considering all this.

Ishida continued in a prosecutorial fashion: "That's without taking into account the way you entered the house, like you feared for the worst and were on a mission to do terrible vengeance. I've seen that kind of look on your face only a few times before and I know exactly what it means. Then you had that armband and badge on, as if you so brazenly felt no one would notice—"

"That's enough, Ishida- _kun_ ," Rukia declared. Her voice was quiet, but her tone was as unyielding as an iceberg. Ishida abruptly stopped and saw that she was staring him down with a high-handed look. It was abundantly clear she would have no more discussion on the matter. The unusual tension between them now drew the glances of both Inoue and Chad. Rukia could completely understand their concern, but at the same time the matters in which they were now involved were so vast…and she was still pissed that they had been interrupted. _We were finally going to…and you had to bring us here to talk about how…!_

Ichigo reached a hand over and tenderly grasped one of her wrists under the table. At that the iceberg came apart, façade calving in great sheets. Rukia's eyes swung to him in surprise to find the smallest of smiles. There was a determination in his eyes. _Let me handle it_ , they seemed to say. Her own expression could only be read as _But…_ and at this his smile increased another fraction. _Trust me_.

Rukia drew her arm back slightly so Ichigo's hand was around her own. At the same time she closed her eyes and picked up her drink with the other, sipping on it idly to help hold her tongue.

"You're right, Ishida. Inoue, Sado. We've been concealing things from you, and we've lied to you," Ichigo said with what sounded like every bit of his old swagger. He wasn't bragging, but was instead acknowledging it completely. Their eyes widened at this frank admission as his eyes tracked across their faces. He then bowed his head, but his tone didn't change in the slightest as he said "I'm sorry."

He gripped Rukia's hand and felt her grip back as she set her drink down and joined him. "We're sorry," she said expansively and with sincerity.

Ichigo looked back up at his friends then with a smile that was somewhere between assuaging and a bit disbelieving. "I would tell you that we were worried about you, that we didn't want you to get hurt, didn't want you to get involved, that we were in over our heads," he said, before letting a smirk cross his mouth, "but that would be bullshit: we know better than thinking like that by now, and it's not the reason at all."

The wonder of the pair's friends increased at seeing what seemed to very much be Ichigo's old self in front of them once more. They were momentarily struck dumb by it.

"The truth is," Ichigo looked up as if the whole thing was just another token burden, "it's pretty new to us too, everything, and we're still trying to figure out what to do ourselves." His fingers had slid in between Rukia's at the word "everything" and she was now busy staring at a salt-shaker to keep from blushing.

Ichigo looked back down at his friends, taking them all in. A genuine smile spread across his face "Everyone…Rukia and I can't tell you everything right now. It might even be some time until we can tell you _everything_. But we will tell you what we can when we can. All I can ask of you is: please trust us!"

A second passed before looks of determination flashed onto the faces opposite him.

Inoue was first, stating "Yes!" as forcefully as she ever would.

Chad, never much one for words, gave a deep nod and grunt.

Ishida glanced sideways at both of them before a small smile traced across his mouth. He pushed his glasses up and sighed in defeat. It was hopeless. "Okay, Kurosaki," he said at last. They basked in the moment then, reunited once more, and even Rukia found herself smiling at Ichigo. _Somehow, you always…_

The mood slowly ebbed, all five of them turning to inwardly contemplate, some staring at the table, others sipping their drinks. After a minute it was Ishida who continued: "What is it that you can tell us now then?"

"You know what I said when you first asked that?" Ichigo replied with just a hint of humor in his voice.

"Godzilla is real?" Chad asked with disbelief, but a tone suggesting he could be persuaded of it if Ichigo was convinced of it.

"You're forming a _sentai_ team?!" Inoue exclaimed at the same time, her eyes lighting up once more at the thought.

Rukia had to stifle a giggle at their reactions. It was hard to stay mad at them.

"The other part," Ichigo said, looking at the three in turn with a more serious expression.

Ishida felt his brows draw down as he said "The American Army has…?" He mentally replayed the night of the party and focused on the badge that had been on Ichigo's left arm. He confirmed to himself that it had read "U.S." and there had been an emblem featuring a star on it.

"He's being flippant but it's close enough to the truth," Rukia said, catching the Quincy's widening expression. Ishida's eyes came back into focus and turned to her at that. She gave a polite smile, before continuing: "Ichigo's powers were restarted using a strange piece of technology provided to him by a…outside party…that is interested in working with Soul Society."

Ichigo smiled to himself and returned to eating his burger with his free hand. Rukia would show more discretion and explain things better than he could anyway. Since he had captured one of her hands, there was little to no danger of her suddenly producing drawings to illustrate her point either.

Rukia exhaled, lifting her free hand and gesturing with just a bit much theater as she said "Because Ichigo is a reckless fool he now technically works for this…outside party…and his immediate-if-maybe-temporary boss—who is an evil man I'll have you know!—conspired with Yamamoto- _sōtaichō_ to put the two of us together into a special mission force."

"Combined Task Force Raven One, at your service, sir!" Ichigo sternly declared in Japanese-tinged English, saluting with his burger.

"Idiot!" Rukia harshly whispered at him with wide eyes, "We probably can't tell them that!" She also remained embarrassed at the name. It did sound kinda cool, but in a goofy and juvenile way.

"They surely knew that we'd tell our friends eventually, hell, they're probably banking on us recruiting them into the whole thing," Ichigo said dismissively. He had meant it facetiously, but the more he thought about it the more that sounded exactly like something SOCOM would have wanted to happen. He found himself wondering: _Are we, even now, doing just what they expected?_

"Don't just assume that!" Rukia admonished. She was as-yet unpersuaded by the argument and glared at him, but before she could continue, they both noticed their friends.

Each of them was in deep contemplation at the information they had just received, arms crossed in front of them. Ichigo and Rukia blinked and felt their expressions become incredulous as they could practically see what each of them imagined.

Chad was picturing both in Vietnam-era G.I. uniforms, complete with M16s and "Born to Kill" helmets. Ishida was trying to imagine the "evil man" who could manipulate the pair so easily and found himself thinking of some sort of shadowy American military version of Aizen. Inoue's thoughts were largely incomprehensible. It was, however, the tawny-haired girl who came to a definitive conclusion first.

Inoue's arm snapped up to point at them both as a smile of recognition took hold of her face "You're just like Trinity and Neo!"

Ichigo blinked, taking a moment to place the reference, while Rukia stared in creeping horror. _Oh no, this again…_

Inoue began in immediately: "I bet Kurosaki- _kun_ met with his boss Morpheus while we were distracted by Hollows and they had a training fight and then Kurosaki- _kun_ was like," before stopping to adopt her best Ichigo expression, "Woah, I know Getsuga Tenshō."

Rukia dreaded the teenager's bubbly enthusiasm but was won over by her award-winning mimicry of Ichigo's infamous scowl. She found herself laughing aloud. "I don't sound like that," Ichigo protested, giving his actual sneer in turn.

"No, Neo sounds like that, but you look like that," Inoue said with a smile, earning a further giggle from Rukia.

Ishida coughed to refocus their attention, and they all turned to him. "So, the two of you are like a trial run…" he said, working it out verbally, before he remembered something Rukia had said, asking "…special mission force? What's your mission?"

Rukia and Ichigo's expressions grew serious then and they looked at one another, silently evaluating what they could and couldn't say. Both looked back to their friends at the same time as they said "We can't tell you that yet."

Ishida found himself surprised at how much they now seemed to be able to communicate non-verbally. He couldn't recall them having been so synchronous before, and the way they'd been acting around one another… He'd heard of couples finishing each other's sentences before, but to actually see something like it from people who fought so much with each other was something else.

"But," Rukia continued, "We're under a standing directive to train and get stronger."

"We're probably going to be really busy for awhile," Ichigo added, leaving it unsaid that meant there wouldn't be much if any time to hang out like this.

"Then we'll get stronger too," Chad said forcefully, for once taking the initiative.

Everyone turned to look at the giant's unusual display of determination. Ichigo and Rukia just smiled as it was Ishida and Inoue who were left to nod affirmatively back at them.

They sat in silence for awhile, before Inoue piped up: "Kuchiki- _san_ , are you coming back to school?"

Rukia nodded, saying "It'd be suspicious otherwise."

"Well, even if we're busy, as long as we get to see each other during the day, that's good enough!" Inoue said with confidence and calm delight.

"We can probably also meet up at Urahara- _san_ 's shop for training during the week," Ishida offered. Now was not the time to play up the usual Quincy-Shinigami rivalry gimmick.

Everyone nodded at this and the group once again fell silent for awhile in thought.

"Um," Inoue started nervously, trailing off as if she would stop. She instead bowed her head deeply "Sorry, for whatever it is we interrupted you with in calling you here." She politely did not speculate as to what that might have been.

Both Ichigo and Rukia's cheeks flashed with a bit of red at the too-close-to-home accusation. They immediately began to stammer in denial, Rukia waving one of her hands dismissively "W—What are you talking about, Inoue?! Saying such things?"

"Y—Yeah," Ichigo said, leaning forward on the table with one arm, "don't joke!"

Ishida adjusted his glasses such that they gleamed in the light, saying simply "Where is it that your other hands have gone, I wonder?"

The pair shot him a look that was both shocked and irritated at the observation, only to be forced to retarget toward Chad as he asked "Shouldn't special agents be good at hiding things?"

Both Ichigo and Rukia began to mount furious denials at their friends, who in turn only bowed and apologized before joining Inoue in laughing at the fact they still wouldn't bring their other hands up into view. There was no need for any of three to greatly tease the pair: they did most of the work themselves.

After a few minutes of this they turned to other matters, the three electing to catch Rukia up to speed with what they were studying in class. Ichigo took the opportunity to excuse himself to call Ikumi to let her know he wouldn't be coming in, reluctantly letting go of Rukia to let her focus.

* * *

He stood outside listening to the number dial. After a few rings a response greeted him: "Hello and welcome! Cheap! Fast! Safe! We'll do anything! That's Unagiya!"

"Ikumi- _san_ ," he greeted, not bothering with phone etiquette.

"Ichigo- _chan_? Why are you calling, idiot? I might miss an actual customer!" she declared in his ear.

Ichigo sighed, looking ahead determinedly, saying "I won't be able to come in any more."

There was silence on the other end for drawn-out seconds before she said with unusual softness "I know."

"Eh?" Ichigo said in response.

"Your friend, Alan, told me you'd be busy soon," Ikumi replied.

Hearing Alan described as his friend made Ichigo fume and lose his train of thought.

"By the way, Ichigo- _chan_ , thank you for texting me his numbers, he forgot to give them to me; we've been having some interesting conversations!" Ikumi continued with unusual cheer.

Ichigo felt his face fault and his shoulders slump as it became clear that his and Rukia's revenge upon the man had been so easily countered. On the other hand, it was unusual to hear Ikumi so carefree about something, so maybe…

Ikumi interpreted her young employee's silence as fretting and said, with a new sudden determination "Ichigo- _chan_ , oi, are you still there?"

"I'm here," he responded.

"Did you at least have a nice night out with that girl?" she asked. There was no ill-will or taunting in the question that he could hear.

The memory of the last three days shot through Ichigo's mind in fast forward at her question. "Yeah," he said at last, for once finding he didn't have the heart to fight her efforts to intrude on his life, "Yeah, I did."

"Is she part of why you won't be here?" Ikumi asked.

"…Ikumi," Ichigo began.

"I don't know her but I saw the two of you together before your friend called you, Ichigo- _chan_ ," Ikumi said past him, letting it hang for a moment before she added "She's special. So she had better be part of why you're not here, understood?"

Ichigo blinked and looked sideways at the phone "Special…?" He had his own opinions but to hear it from somebody else was new.

There was a pause at the other end before Ikumi stated as a fact "I haven't ever seen you smile like that, Ichigo."

Ichigo was silent for awhile. "Yeah, she's part of why I won't be there. A big part," he said, answering her earlier question honestly.

"I see," Ikumi said. She sounded happier. "Don't forget what I told you about talking to me if you need someone to lean on," she said.

"Ikumi- _san_ ," Ichigo sighed, before offering against his better judgment: "I'll ask one of my sisters if she'd be interested in the job. She recently stopped her last one. And…maybe we can stop by and help if we have free time."

"Okay," was all she said in reply. A pause hung between them for awhile. "Now get off the line before I lose any work!" she suddenly exclaimed, and the call disconnected.

Ichigo found himself looking at his phone with a faint smile before going back inside.

* * *

By the time he returned he found Rukia and their friends had begun drafting schedules for the week to try and align times they might meet up at Urahara's or elsewhere.

It had become clear to both of them after the earlier video that there was a lot of material from SOCOM to cover, and that had to be balanced with more traditional _zankensoki_ practice. Rukia had blocked out large chunks of their time on a schedule accordingly, and was currently haggling over when the best times to meet up might be. It was as he watched her work that Ichigo fully appreciated for the first time her organizational abilities as a _fukutaichō_. It was also the first time he realized he would have to achieve some basic proficiency at _kidō_ and other techniques, and somehow help her achieve _bankai_ , if she hadn't already.

After watching them schedule for awhile and catching up, Ichigo began offering his own input and they spent the next few hours both getting their schedules lined up, covering school material again, and goofing off. At last, in the later afternoon, they split up to get ready for the upcoming week.

"Hey, let's stop by the old place," Ichigo said as they made their away from their friends.

"Did the movers forget something?" Rukia asked.

"Nah, but I have to ask Karin to do something for me and I figure Yuzu will have a pretty good idea of what we need to stock up on in terms of groceries, and maybe she can give you a cooking lesson while we're there," Ichigo replied.

"I know how to cook!" Rukia said with only a smidgen of offense.

"Yeah, you're great at ramen, now come on," he said, pulling her along.

She pinched his side but didn't resist, and so they went.

* * *

"I don't need a job, Ichi- _nii_. Besides, I'm underage," Karin said.

"Karin," Ichigo replied, "Urahara- _san_ told me you've been going to get supplies from him while I…" he trailed off.

She said nothing at this.

"Thank you," Ichigo said, "For trying to take care of things when I couldn't."

She frowned and still saying nothing, looked away.

"That's why I'm asking you to do this. It's something I can't do right now and besides, I think…" he let out a sigh, hoping he wasn't making a horrible mistake, "I think you and Ikumi- _san_ would get along. She sort of reminds me of you, in some ways."

She looked at him rather suspiciously at this remark.

"In a good way, "Ichigo added with a small smirk. "Look, as a favor to me, at least go see her? And if you don't like it then you can quit and I won't hold it against you or anything, okay? It's just…she's a good person who needs help," he finished.

Karin sighed and at last said simply "Okay," in such a way as to indicate she didn't want to hear any more pleading or gratitude from him.

Ichigo smiled knowingly and nodded before getting up to check on Rukia and Yuzu. He hadn't heard any yells of panic in a few minutes.

* * *

By the time Ichigo and Rukia returned home, each carrying a bundle of groceries in either hand, it was well after dark, and putting everything up in a fashion they both agreed made sense took up another half hour of their time. Reluctant to start in on the prodigious amount of work that confronted them just yet, they retired to the couch to idly watch TV and unwind.

It was sometime later when Rukia put her head on Ichigo's shoulder, and later still when he felt her increasingly heavily leaning against him. By the time he finally chose to investigate and look over at her, he discovered she had fallen asleep against him. Ichigo watched her softly breathe for awhile before quietly calling her name. She didn't respond and so after another moment he let out a soft laugh, whispering "I guess I have to carry you to bed after all, Kuchiki- _dono_."

He turned off the TV and slowly brought a hand up to cradle her head, bracing her upper back with his arm. He then shifted around her, hooking his other arm under her knees before lifting her up. She was surprisingly light. Gingerly he took her to her room and, leaning her head against his chest, pulled the covers back, setting her down and tucking her in. She didn't stir, and so after a lingering glance he quietly shut the door to her room before going into his and doing the same.

A yawn overtook him, but he dutifully marched to shower and brush his teeth before going to bed. It was going to be a long week.


	16. 2-06: Training Montage

**A/N:** **Thank you for any and all** **reviews, favorites, and follows, as well as all you other readers out there!**

 ** _Bleach_ and all products thereof are copyright to Tite Kubo, et al.**

* * *

 **Friday, February 21, 2003**

 _It's an interesting historical observation that during the Sengoku period Japan was one of the foremost adopters worldwide of the gun. I say this is interesting because the Japanese and American martial traditions are at first glance very different. Briefly: Japan tends to view weapons as an extension of the self, America tends to view them as tools that augment the self—a reflection of one's inner-abilities versus something that can empower anyone. There are many reasons for this, but they're unimportant for these purposes._

He checked the alignment of the sights, adjusting them slightly.

 _You might by now think that with a reliance on_ reiryoku _, on your own soul, that the Japanese perspective is clearly correct. However, even the basic Shinigami combat techniques of_ zankensoki _reveal that this is not so. You know these by the terms_ zanjutsu _, sword-fighting,_ hakuda _, unarmed fighting,_ hohō _, high-speed movement using_ shunpo _, and_ kidō _, direct application of_ reiryoku _. A_ zanpakutō _is one feature of a holistic system. Even every_ zanpakutō _begins as an_ asauchi _._

He checked the firing mode of the rifle, ensuring it was it to semi-automatic.

 _So you might ask which comes first: the method of self-actualization, or the desire to self-actualize? The answer is actually of course: both and neither. They develop together. I doubt you've ever heard the USMC's Rifleman's Creed, so allow me to cite part of it to you: "This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. My rifle, without me, is useless. Without my rifle, I am useless. I must fire my rifle true. I must shoot straighter than my enemy who is trying to kill me. I must shoot him before he shoots me. I will…"_

He flipped off the safety selector.

" _My rifle and I know that what counts in war is not the rounds we fire, the noise of our burst, nor the smoke we make. We know that it is the hits that count. We will hit... My rifle is human, even as I, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strength, its parts, its accessories, its sights and its barrel. I will keep my rifle clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will..."_

He raised the rifle to his shoulder and aimed down the sights.

 _Does it sound like any part of that actually requires the rifle to you? Could it not just as easily be your_ zanpakutō _? Of course it could. The weapon is the expression, and the expression is the weapon._

He steadied his breathing, let his _reiatsu_ flow, and adjusted subtly.

 _It doesn't matter if it's a rifle or a_ zanpakutō _or your bare hands. What is really being discussed is, of course…_

He held his breath in a controlled fashion, slid his finger into the trigger guard, and smoothly squeezed.

… _your killing intent._

A beam emitted from the M161 Moonlight Scythe in Ichigo's hands and cleanly pierced the target at the end of the firing range right through the center of its chest.

 _Whether you choose to use a gun in addition to your standard repertoire is up to you. Every weapon and technique has benefits and drawbacks. Your task is to match your method with your circumstance. Your true weapon—your killing intent—is what will always remain the same, as will your goal: victory._

"Wow, that was a pretty good shot," Rukia said.

Ichigo withdrew his finger from the trigger-guard, reengaged the safety selector, and held the weapon at ease on its strap. He then yawned prodigiously, even as a voice in his head said **Yeah, Queen's right, not bad, King**. The Hollow in his conscience rather seemed to like the _reiatsu_ rifle, and even _kidō_ , whereas Zangetsu had said nothing about either. "I was just remembering the intro to the video, is all," Ichigo said lazily.

"Don't make it sound like it's so easy," Rukia chided. Her best single-shot so far from a cold start standing position had hit the target in the shoulder. She paused to recall the brief intro to the highly accelerated marksmanship briefing. The videos had been put together by various Nightmare Eclipse personnel, presumably including some from Alan's department—they had come to learn from studying organizational charts that he was actually the head of the East Asian department. "I still think it's weird how much they know about Soul Society's training," she muttered before adding "That was such a short part of it too and it didn't even really discuss shooting! Why were you thinking about it?"

Ichigo rubbed the back of his head and looked at the ceiling. He didn't really know the answer himself. "It just helps me focus I guess," he said. He then looked at the back of his left wrist. They had been provided with rather basic watches in their kits and had taken to wearing them while downstairs to tell time, as there were no other clocks available and using their phones proved inconvenient. It was 9:56 PM. " _Tch_ , we've been down here for four hours!"

"Already?" Rukia sighed. "Come on, let's make dinner and get some sleep, there's a lot to do tomorrow," she added, trudging off back to the gun-room to re-rack the rifle.

Ichigo followed after saying "Fine by me, but either we order out or I get to cook."

"Don't even start!" Rukia called back at him from further up the curved hallway. Her efforts at cooking were improving, but only slowly.

Their schedule had not been the most grueling thing that either had ever done, but had been merciless even so.

* * *

On Monday, Rukia had returned to school with Ichigo, explaining away her long absence as having to do with the vagaries of family business. No one had asked as to her living arrangements, but they had prepared a story that her brother had set her up with a house and gotten Ichigo to be her roommate to make sure she wasn't living alone. (That she was as if not more violent than him remained largely ignored and unknown.) They had actually paid attention that day to make sure they were on top of what was being covered in class going forward, and had enjoyed lunch with their friends. Neither had discussed it but both did their utmost to maintain their public images at school, so they returned to their previously usual antics.

Returning home, they had knocked out homework and briefly studied for a test in math for an hour. Ichigo had then caught Rukia up on what little of his 'homework' he had done and they then spent the entire rest of the evening reviewing the historical foundations of US paranormal and supernatural activities units, breaking only shortly for dinner. They had gotten well into WWII.

The Frightener units of the Civil War era had been repurposed into pacification units in the American West, where conflict with the Native American populations had often taken on a paranormal and supernatural bent. It reminded Ichigo in many ways of the Quincy and Shinigami conflict. Neither side's hands were clean, but the Frighteners were overwhelmingly more brutal and adaptable. This, along with activity in the South in support of Reconstruction and token suppression of spiritual activities, was their primary mission for several decades. This came to a head with the Ghost Dance movement in 1889 and the subsequent Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890. While the official physical death tolls were rather small as battles or wars went, there was an attendant spiritual war in which the Frighteners decisively came out on top.

The Frighteners were then briefly engaged in Cuba during the Spanish-American War of 1898, and had little time to recuperate, being deployed to China in 1899 as part of the Eight-Nation Alliance to combat the Boxer Rebellion. It was there that for the first time they had greatly interacted with similar units from other countries and had confronted Eastern spiritual traditions. When the war had concluded, they were immediately redeployed into the Philippine-American War and the Moro Rebellion. It was the last of these, in addition to the Banana Wars in Central and South America, which was to serve as a constant drain on their strength until WWI.

WWI itself had seen the battered remnants of the Frighteners redeployed to the European theater, where they were shattered. Although American entry decisively ended the war and the Entente achieved victory over the Central Powers, the constant bloodletting saw the attacks of things like Hollows skyrocket and both sides' spiritual forces had long-since taken to attacking one another as well. While hardened through long years of guerrilla campaigns around the world, the Frighteners were not prepared for full-scale war. It was in this time that what a Shinigami would identify as the first crude _reishi_ and _reiatsu_ projectile weapons were developed.

The interwar period saw the Frighteners disbanded and their remains reconstituted into a new organization, the Titans. The Titans were much more centrally organized out of the Department of War and other than their continuing involvement in the Banana Wars, they spent the years before WWII quietly studying what they could from other nations and traditions and developing new techniques and equipment. The Titans particularly corresponded with their European counterparts and seemed quite keen on locating the few remaining Quincy to learn from them.

WWII changed everything. The Titans were deployed to both the Pacific and European theaters, but the Pacific was relatively quiescent. Given the strength of Soul Society (which rather clearly did not take part on Japan's behalf, and seemed to be reviled by the Japanese military authorities of the time), Japan had a rather quite atrophied spiritual military branch, and this combined with the naval and island-hopping nature of the war made Titan operations overwhelmingly defensive against horrors drawn to and resulting from carnage and atrocity. Europe was a different story.

Rukia and Ichigo had ultimately gone to bed disturbed and with only as much as "Goodnight," exchanged between them, and both had slept poorly as the true scale of what was going on began to become apparent to them.

* * *

On Tuesday, they had both gotten up somewhat late and had been forced to run out the door with toast-in-mouths, only barely having snatched up some of their reading material on the way out. They had spent a good portion of the day largely ignoring their classes and studying Nightmare Eclipse's field manuals and organizational information. It was largely broken up into regional units attached to American Unified Combatant Commands as a sort of shadow-skeleton, and was rather less formal than the military proper except when having to engage with it. Ichigo reported to the East Asian department of Nightmare Eclipse within SOCOM as embedded in PACOM. Alan was not, technically, his boss, but rather his boss thrice-removed, while Riley was twice-removed from him in turn. It had explained the man's pull, at any rate.

They had again unwound at lunch, and returned home promptly at the end of the day. Once there, they again spent an hour on school work and then had booted their computers to review the various subject fields they were expected to verse themselves in. They rapidly made a decision to start with Close Quarters Combat. They watched several of the unarmed combat briefings, and then descended to the underground _dōjō_ (it was then that they had settled on obliquely referring to it as just 'downstairs') to start training, with Ichigo leaving his body and Rukia her _gigai_ in the gun room. Rukia, although by no means a master of _hakuda_ , was proficient in the basics and walked Ichigo through an introductory lesson while at the same time comparing and contrasting with the CQC techniques they had just learned.

They had spent the next several hours practicing stances and movements in slow but gradually increasing quicker motion; Ichigo wasn't yet at a stage to "properly" fight regardless of his street-brawling experience and neither really liked the idea of fighting one another anyway, so they used it as an opportunity to prepare to fight more serious trainers—likely to be Urahara and Yoruichi. By the time they had finished it was deep into the evening and so Ichigo had prepared a simple dinner while they quizzed one another over contemporary Japanese literature. Afterwards, both exhausted, they had gone to their rooms to fall asleep.

* * *

On Wednesday, they had actually got up early, and did a little more studying in the morning before heading to school after a hearty breakfast. They once more spent most of the day ignoring their school work in favor of completing their study of Nightmare Eclipse's organization. They had to run out of class to deal with a Hollow before lunch—it had been determined Chad would take Mondays, Inoue would take Tuesdays, Ishida would take Thursdays, and they would take Wednesdays and Fridays; none of them found they wanted to trust Zennosuke completely—but it was small-fry and the day was otherwise uneventful except for having to deal with Keigo heckling them about their living arrangements, which drew the notice of Chizuru, Michiru, and everybody else who didn't know. Keigo would've gone to the hospital were he not so resilient from years of abuse.

They went home, doing their customary hour of homework and a brief warm-up session of mixed slow _hakuda_ and CQC in the living room before having dinner early and making their way to the Urahara Shop to meet up with Ishida, Chad, and Inoue.

They spent the entire rest of the evening practicing _kidō_ , even being joined occasionally by their trio of friends—as it depended solely on _reiryoku_ , they could all do it. After only a brief consultation with Tessai, Rukia had led the instruction herself, as she was an expert. She had only ever heard about Ichigo's efforts with the _reishūkaku_ during the invasion Soul Society second-hand, but knowing full-well that he had never applied himself to _kidō_ , she grilled him relentlessly far above and beyond the others. Ichigo was forced once more to confront exactly why she had been made _fukutaichō_ as he was time and again scolded for managing to blow himself up.

It had been many hours and Ichigo's _shihakushō_ , skin, and hair were covered in soot by the time he finally managed to extend a finger, say the incantation, and declare " _Hadō_ Number 4: _Byakurai!_ " without self-detonating. It was at this junction that the dangers of teaching Ichigo _kidō_ became apparent: he wasn't skilled enough (yet) to perform them without incantation, but with incantation he did them with full force. _Byakurai_ in the hands of a skilled _kidō_ user normally took the form of a lightning beam perhaps twice the width of a man's arm.

Ichigo's was about the width of a car and had several more accompanying spirals, looking more like some sort of science-fiction super weapon than the traditional form. It lit the entirety of the training room up in incandescent blue in the moment before firing and it was only the timely intervention of Tessai declaring " _Bakudō_ Number 81: _Dankū!_ " that kept it from significantly expanding the size of the training room.

In the aftermath of stunned silence and the clatter of debris only seconds passed before Rukia had recomposed herself and shouted "You're a regular natural disaster, Ichigo—now: again!" Ichigo's disbelief was met with a beating; and so on the training had gone until late into the night.

By the time they had arrived home, Ichigo went straight to shower and to bed. Although he wasn't mad at Rukia, he wasn't in a happy mood either. Her ruthlessness had been predictable; it was the way the Hollow in his conscience had reveled at each successful burst that disturbed him. Rukia, unused to drilling others and worn out by it, likewise promptly went to bed.

* * *

On Thursday, they had discovered during the course of their morning routine that a fax had come in sometime the previous evening. They found that Ichigo was being ordered to make his way to Yokota AB the next weekend for an official marksmanship assessment (and Rukia was strongly advised to accompany him). Instructions were enclosed directing them to their official credentials for the same purpose. After having looked at one another suspiciously before going to their closets, they found them.

Ichigo had been provisioned with a US Air Force Active Duty ID, insignia, and accoutrements in addition to the service uniform they had already discovered. Rukia found the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force service dress she had been given for the first time, as well as an ID listing her as a First Lieutenant in the same. There was a small notice attached that this fiction had been agreed to by the Japanese government for the purposes of international cooperation. Laying their things out on their beds, they rejoined one another and briefly discussed adjusting their plans for the day to cover the "Military Bearing" and "Military Discipline" briefings. They would at least have to learn to act the part.

Having established they would do so, they had made their way to school. Since they had developed a thorough if shallow understanding of Nightmare Eclipse's operations (they were technically far over on the "supernatural" and not the "paranormal" side of the group) over the last two days, they had turned their attention to other matters. Unwilling to repeat bringing highly classified documents to school, they had both decided to start improving their English. Finding it less engrossing than the military documents, they only ignored two-thirds of what went on in class instead of almost all of it.

Lunch passed with Rukia trying to rather ridiculously insert basic English into her everyday speech, drawing odd looks from everyone but Ichigo who had been torn between laughing and sighing and so said nothing.

Returning home and finishing their homework in timely fashion, they had once more eaten early, and then gone to review the briefings they'd discussed earlier in the day. They took a few hours to review, and after both had managed to find USAF and JSGDF basic manuals on the shelves of the office, they had gone to their rooms to dress and practice on each other. They'd discovered conventional fatigues downstairs in addition to the Nightmare Eclipse standard issue, but elected to try those later.

Ichigo had finished first and waited in the living room in his service uniform shoes and all (only since they'd never been worn outside yet) for Rukia to appear. For the purposes of their own operations and those of both Soul Society and Nightmare Eclipse they were regarded as equal in rank, but for the purposes of the fiction they would be presenting to the actual armed forces, they were an enlisted man and officer, respectively. Although it had been made clear the US Uniform Code of Military Justice was rather loosely followed in Nightmare Eclipse, and Ichigo as both a foreign national and a contractor wouldn't be much held to account to it, he would have to play along with it in front of other military personnel. Rukia, in turn, was held to no account, and merely expected to play the part.

At last he had heard her door open, and waited to catch the merest sight of her before snapping to attention and rendering a crisp salute as he had seen performed. It was when he actually saw her that his eyes had widened in shock.

She had come around the corner in a rich dark green uniform jacket and skirt, wearing black heels and conservatively colored hose. The uniform itself was a crisp design featuring only chrysanthemums at the collar and her rank insignia. She had pinned her persistently troublesome hair back and topped it off with the uniform's hat, and seemed to be wearing just a little bit of makeup. The whole thing seemed to highlight and contrast with her eyes. It was the first time he'd ever seen her dress up so, and he found himself completely taken back by how she looked even in so severe an outfit. Her glance had shifted to him dispassionately, that cool Kuchiki look all over her face, and she had smoothly saluted back, before saying "At ease," to him. His hand had dropped in awe.

"No, no, all wrong!" she had immediately complained, and the illusion had been broken just like that. They immediately began to pick apart what the other had done wrong in terms of gig line and everything else before much later transitioning into acting out military skits with one another, covering everything from standing at attention to marching. Rukia didn't dare mention that he actually did seem rather dashing at times when he really got into character. This continued long after the sun had gone down and so at last they collected themselves, went to the alcove that led to their rooms, smartly saluted one another as a final capstone, and retired for the evening.

* * *

On Friday, they had been awoken early by a Hollow attack. Ichigo had told Rukia to go back to bed while he dealt with it, which she had seemed to do grudgingly. He had returned at sunrise to find she'd made _tamagoyaki_ omelets for both of them. Although they'd been a bit messy, they'd been surprisingly good and so Ichigo encouraged her by suggesting she make lunch for them both too. Lunch had turned out to be rather less successful, and had thankfully been interrupted by another Hollow attack. It had otherwise been another mostly uneventful day of studying English.

Reviewing their homework upon getting home, they had dedicated two and a half hours to knocking everything out that would come due on Monday, and then had promptly begun reviewing Marksmanship. The lesson was structured around the M161 Moonlight Scythe because it was an extremely low-maintenance _reiatsu_ rifle that required basically no cleaning and no maintenance, and so it had been a rather brief lesson focused on proper shooting. They had noticed an inventory of everything that was down in the gun room (except what was within the mysterious cases) but decided to review it later. And so they had gone downstairs to learn to shoot.

* * *

Ichigo yawned again and pushed away his plate. In the end they had both been too tired and had ordered a relatively simple delivery of _yakiniku_ and put it together with rice and mixed vegetables that they'd done up together while waiting for it to arrive.

Rukia likewise yawned before poking him in the forehead in irritation, saying "Stop that, it's contagious!"

"Sorry, I can't stop it," Ichigo droned, before collecting both their dishes and going to clean and wash them.

"Hey, I can help," Rukia offered from the dining room.

"Forget it, it's not a big deal and if Byakuya ever thought I was making a member of the Kuchiki clan clean dishes he'd turn me into a fine puree," Ichigo called over the running water.

"You know _nii-sama_ doesn't hate you," Rukia admonished, her voice indicating she was in the living room.

"Do I?" Ichigo asked aloud, as much to himself as to her. He was quite confident he didn't know any such thing. The next time he looked up Rukia was looking over the breakfast bar at him curiously, elbow on it and chin in hand. Her expression was contemplative. "What?" he asked.

She seemed to consider for a moment and opened her mouth before closing it again, getting up, and walking toward the bedroom alcove, saying at last "Nothing, just don't stay up too late, we have to be up early. Goodnight, Ichigo!" She shut the door before he could say anything.

He turned the water off and started to dry the dishes. They did indeed have to get up early: tomorrow was the day they would start learning _hakuda_ from Yoruichi and Urahara. **It's gonna be so much fun, King** , a voice in his head said. He said nothing internally and put the dishes away, giving Rukia's door a glance before heading to brush his teeth and go to sleep.


	17. 2-07: Death & Strawberry 3

**A/N:** **Thank you for any and all** **reviews, favorites, and follows, as well as all you other readers out there!**

 ** _Bleach_ and all products thereof are copyright to Tite Kubo, et al.**

* * *

 **Saturday, February 22, 2003**

The look that Yoruichi shot to Urahara before she and Rukia began to spar was the first thing that clued Ichigo in that something was wrong. He'd been around her often enough to know her looks of displeasure and she definitely had one on now, even if it was subtle. The duo had set aside their _zanpakutō_ before coming down to the training room, so it was going to be a purely unarmed fight. Tessai, Ururu, and Jinta were watching from behind where he and Urahara stood.

Rukia and Yoruichi started out with basic _hakuda_ and gradually picked up the pace, attacking, blocking and counterattacking until eventually Yoruichi caught Rukia with a hard kick that knocked her back several meters.

Ichigo had flinched slightly but continued watching.

The cat woman had followed up after the raven-haired Shinigami quickly but not ruthlessly, and Rukia was on the defensive against a still-gradually increasing attack speed. She managed to get in an interesting trip maneuver after sliding through Yoruichi's legs but as she went to follow up received a counterattack that once more knocked her back.

Yoruichi continued implacably, kicking the Shinigami back several more times and following up more quickly each time. Rukia got in solid surprise hit that staggered the older woman by being the first to use _shunpo_ at close-range, but was once more sent into a tumble by Yoruichi as she did the same in return. She had then followed up immediately. It had been some sort of red line.

Rukia only barely dodged a stomp as she stood up and her effort to reposition to attack was met by a blow that knocked her square back into a large rock. It was then that Ichigo saw exactly what was coming.

Yoruichi suddenly appeared above his partner and said "Too slow," before bringing her fist back and immediately swinging it down with all her might. Rukia found there was no way she could dodge it in time. She closed her eyes as she braced for the hit and heard a heavy blow connect. She blinked her eyes open as she felt nothing.

Ichigo stood in front of her, fist still extended, a fierce determination in his eyes. Yoruichi skidded away in a plume of dust from the force of the punch, tumbling before regaining her balance—Ichigo had used _shunpo_ to get to her and it had dramatically increased the kinetic power of his strike. He slowly drew his fist back and stood upright.

"Ichigo!" Rukia called out. To interfere in somebody else's fight, especially a training one was—

"Shut up," Ichigo said calmly. Rukia could only stare at his tone. "She was really gonna hit you that time."

"That's right, Rukia. Don't think I'm going to go easy on you," Yoruichi said as she stood in the dissipating dust cloud. There was blood trickling from a corner of her mouth and she wiped it away with a hand before looking at it. "Not bad, Ichigo, I'm impressed," she said with a small smile, "Even if it was a cheap shot."

"No such thing," Ichigo said, extending a hand to Rukia without looking to her. Rukia stared at it for a moment, disbelieving, as Ichigo continued: "Your pride is injured because someone helped you fight a stronger opponent? Don't be stupid: that's the point of teamwork! Your pride is wounded because someone interfered in your fight to save you? Don't be stupid: get stronger so you can save that person some day in turn! Your pride is stung because you didn't win on your terms? Don't be stupid: the only term that matters is winning! Fighting one-on-one is the luxury of a duel, not the reality of a war!"

Rukia's eyes widened as memories of Ukitake's words before Kaien's death played through her mind. She immediately flashed to Ichigo's fight against Grand Fisher. _But_ …

Yoruichi narrowed her eyes as a grin formed on her face. "Now you're starting to think like a member of the Onmitsukidō!" she declared, before rushing forward with _shunpo_.

Ichigo grimaced and instantly moved to _shunpo_ as well, picking up Rukia and leaping right as Yoruichi reduced the rock she'd been leaning against to a crater with a drop kick.

"Ichigo, what the hell!" Rukia declared, shaking herself out of her surprise at the sudden turn in the training.

"Get it together already," Ichigo said sharply, "we're gonna have to stand and fight if we want to have—"

"Stop running!" Yoruichi interrupted, appearing beside them. Ichigo turned away, rather than toward her, absorbing a kick she had snapped toward Rukia.

The duo careened off at a new angle from the force of the blow, and Ichigo rotated during their fall to absorb the impact as they crashed into a collection of rocks, sending up an enormous dust plume.

As the dust cleared, Yoruichi stood in the new crater, picking Ichigo up by the collar. Rukia was nowhere to be found. She had not held back whatsoever on that kick and the orange-haired teenager was already pretty beaten up from it and the impact. "Huh, 'so you can save that person some day in turn,' eh, Ichigo?" the cat woman said, looking about theatrically for the missing Shinigami. "How does it make you feel, knowing—"

She was interrupted by Ichigo reaching out a hand and putting a finger to her forehead. " _Hadō_ Number 4—" he began. Yoruichi's eyes went wide.

Ichigo was in turn interrupted as he was knocked over, Rukia landing a _shunpo_ assisted kick square into Yourichi's back that sent the pair flying. Rukia immediately got up, only for Ichigo to rise in front of her, Yoruichi having lost her grip on him.

He slid into a fighting stance a fraction of a second too late as the Flash Goddess did a flying kick out of the dust toward Rukia, and was only barely able to reposition in time to take the blow and knock Yoruichi off course. It was, once more, a full-power hit, and Yoruichi followed it up by spinning and punching Ichigo straight back towards his partner.

Rukia, to her credit, tried to catch him, but both were bowled over by the effort. The pair jumped up to confront the woman as she stared them both down. She now actually looked genuinely irritated. "Is this a joke? I'm not even fighting at half my full strength or speed; if you just keep protecting her without attacking you're gonna die, Ichigo," Yoruichi declared. The look on her face went cold as she added "One of the commandments of the Onmitsukidō is: if an opponent is so far above you that you can't save a comrade from them, you should let that comrade die and live to fight another day."

"Never leave a man behind: never get left behind," Ichigo spat, fully straightening up.

The Flash Goddess laughed harshly at this, taunting: "So which is it: victory, or saving your friends? What can you do when the latter precludes the former?"

Ichigo grinned as he said "You want to talk about jokes..." _What good is victory if your friends are dead? Victory is, necessarily…_

Rukia pushed up alongside Ichigo at that and adopted one of the CQC stances they had learned. "We're not going to beat her if we play by her rules, Ichigo!"

Yoruichi tilted her head quizzically at both the remark Ichigo made and the stance Rukia adopted.

With only a moment's hesitation, Ichigo likewise took up a CQC stance. "You know we're gonna have to go all in on this one."

"Don't look down on me, Ichigo," Rukia said, a new determination in her voice.

"Wouldn't dream of it, Rukia," Ichigo replied. It was not the time for jokes about her height.

At that they both used _shunpo_ to go in two different directions. Yoruichi smirked and took off after Rukia. It would be trivially easy to keep Ichigo off-balance by focusing on her. Watching the cat woman speed toward her, Rukia held out a finger and fired off a _Byakurai_ without incantation. Yoruichi easily dodged, taunting "Like that'll do anything!"

"It did what it was supposed to," Rukia said with a grimace, and Yoruichi's eyes widened as she felt Ichigo appear above her. She turned to block right as she heard Rukia shout " _Bakudō_ Number 1: _Sai!_ "

Yoruichi was able to break it almost instantly, but it slowed her down just enough for Ichigo to snap kick her in the torso and send her careening down toward the ground.

The Flash Goddess turned in midair and forced herself to stop, snapping her head back up. She was just in time to receive a double uppercut from both that sent her spiraling back parallel along the ground. _Damn_ , she thought, _I might actually have to take this seriously_ …

She once more forced herself to stop and looked up to see the duo streak toward her at what even she would admit was respectable speed. They were only a moment and meters away. She clapped her hands together and for a moment there was a blinding flash of light. Ichigo and Rukia both stopped immediately at it, only to find themselves within a pale gold hemispherical _kidō_ barrier when it ended. It was clear they were only seeing half of it and the other half extended into the ground.

Yoruichi was on the other side and had used _shunpo_ to put several more meters between them. She now regarded the pair with a passive smile on her face: "As you said, there's no such thing as a cheap shot. You lose. Now I could kill you at my leisure if I wanted to." She seemed to ponder. "Maybe I'd crush you," she said, the barrier starting to ever so slowly contract, "or maybe I'd—"

Ichigo tilted his head down and grinned, cutting her off: " _Ne_ , Rukia, do you feel like dying today?" Rukia looked at him with panicked confusion at this. She could see the flash of blue in his eyes, could feel the _reiatsu_ pour out from him.

"Ichigo, she wouldn't really—" Rukia began, jerking her head back to Yoruichi.

"Try me, Kuchiki, I'm not afraid of Byakuya- _bo_!" Yoruichi exclaimed with an equally wicked grin, and the barrier began to contract significantly faster.

"Because I figure that'd be a pretty shitty end to the week," Ichigo said, suddenly behind Rukia. He placed his right hand on the back of hers and clamped his fingers down between hers as he brought both their arms up to point toward Yoruichi.

The Flash Goddess frowned in sudden confusion, the barrier's contraction slowing accordingly.

"Ichigo, what are you—" Rukia began to say. She was cut off by him bracing himself to her with his left arm as he brought his head down beside hers.

"Sorry," he whispered, pain telling in his voice from whatever damage Yoruichi had done, "the highest thing I can remember the incantation to is only thirty three."

Rukia's head turned toward Ichigo's, her eyes wide, to find him looking and smiling at her. "You can't possibly be—" she started, only to see that look that said _trust me_ yet again. It was unheard of for two people to do such a thing. It was inconceivable as to what the consequences would be. To her knowledge it had never been tried. She felt her own gaze harden, as two conflicting emotions suddenly roared to life within her, drowning out the lingering fear and confusion of a training exercise that was now suddenly too real.

"I'll handle the power, you handle the control—equals, all in," he said, "I can't do it without you, partner."

"Kurosaki Ichigo, I—"

"Three, two…" he said over her. His lips mouthed the word "one" right as she felt his _reiatsu_ begin to flow around her own.

She decided then that she would do it because she trusted him, even as she didn't trust herself and didn't trust that it was necessary. She didn't trust that Yoruichi was really trying to kill them now, or had been—even if both she and Urahara had put them in lethal situations before. But she did, above all else, trust Ichigo, even as she hated him for it, and also as she…

They both proclaimed as one voice: "Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws! _Hadō_ Number 33: _Sōkatsui!_ "

Yourichi's eyes widened halfway through the incantation she realized they were truly serious. She made a snap decision to ride it out rather than try and dodge, and immediately exclaimed " _Bakudō_ Number 73: _Tozanshō!_ " in return.

The gold barrier flashed with a blinding bright blue-white glare that filled the entire training arena, forcing everyone else to look away. The barrier held for only the merest fraction of a second, like a contained explosion, before instantly failing at all points along its surface, just as an inverted pyramid finished forming around Yoruichi.

The hemisphere expanded comparatively slowly then in a deafening roar, everything upon the ground it touched vaporizing and flaring away, vast electrical arcs crackling out of it. Suddenly, the entire half of it facing the pyramid distorted and surged forward, its regular structure becoming an angular wash of destructive energy waves.

In the awful chaos of light and noise it was completely impossible to see Urahara _shunpo_ atop the pyramid, to hear his _shikai_ release of " _Okiro_ , Benihime" or likewise to hear his utterance of " _Tsuppane_ , Benihime!" as he drew his _zanpakutō_ in a small circle.

The wave stopped in place right before the barrier, before there was another blinding flash of light and it disappeared, a ridiculously deep but thin fissure having been formed immediately in front of the man astride the pyramid. Urahara jumped down to the other side of the gap right as the spell behind him was dispelled, considering the _shihakushō_ clad pair before him.

Ichigo was already slumped against Rukia, clearly unconscious, blood trickling from his mouth. Rukia was barely standing and panting deeply. The outfits of both were nicked and torn from the back blast of the _kidō_ while it had been momentarily contained within the barrier. Rukia began to wobble and fell forward with Ichigo right as Urahara used _shunpo_ to move up, catching both against him.

"Easy, easy," he said, right before Rukia passed out. Yoruichi appeared beside him then, looking at the pair in his arms for a moment. Tessai, Ururu, and Jinta were running up from whatever cover they had sought, but hadn't yet reached them. Yoruichi took Ichigo while Urahara hung on to Rukia. "I think you overdid it," Urahara said lightly, adjusting his hat down, "Now who's ruining evenings?"

"That would…definitely have broken a _Bakudō_ of that strength," Yoruichi said solemnly, looking at Urahara. Her eyes were still a bit wide at what they had just witnessed, and her meaning was clear: if he hadn't done what he had, he'd be treating three patients.

"Well, I'm sure the news they technically beat you will lighten their mood," Urahara said, turning toward the ladder, "Now help me get them upstairs." With that, he disappeared with Rukia. Yoruichi glanced at Ichigo's still form before following after him.

* * *

Rukia sat up with a start only to be instantly assured by a voice to her side that "He's alright, he's just sleeping it off."

Her eyes snapped sideways in recognition to see Yourichi sitting on a _tatami_ mat next to the futon she herself was sitting on. The woman met her gaze directly for a second before bowing deeply, saying "I'm sorry, Rukia."

Rukia was quiet at the highly unusual gesture and tone from the woman, and sat in silence more from surprise than from any lingering animosity. _If Ichigo is okay, then…_ "I'm sure you had a reason, so I don't hold it against you, Yoruichi- _san_ ," she said at last.

Yourichi was quiet for a moment before sitting back up. She was still looking down. "The two of us, Kisuke and I, feel an obligation that if we're to train you, we have to make sure you have no inhibitions about protecting yourselves or one another," she said, before meeting Rukia's gaze again, "Pride, honor, justice…none of that matters if one or both of you are dead. The surest way to dispel you of those notions was to force you to confront that idea immediately."

Rukia said nothing to this, mentally rewinding the fight from this perspective. If that was the case, then, "I guess we failed," she said.

"No," Yoruichi said immediately, before pursing her lips. She too, had her pride: "Well, I was holding back, but if you take what I did as a representative scenario, you passed. Ichigo knew the stakes from the moment I was going to hit you, and you kept pace pretty well too."

"But not as well," Rukia said.

"He would've been screwed at the end there if it wasn't for you, Rukia," Yoruichi said earnestly, "He wasn't lying when he said he couldn't do it without you. Don't be so hard on yourself."

"He kept taking hits because he was trying to protect me…" Rukia continued on.

"Remember what he said after he entered the fight," Yoruichi reminded gently, before sighing. "Do you know why it was so easy for me to kick you around to begin with? It's because you were completely distracted. Your heart wasn't in it and you were really thinking about something else," she said.

Rukia blinked at how easily the woman had seen through her and looked away.

Yoruichi continued in turn. "You know, what goes on between the two of you isn't really any of my business, even if Ichigo is—" she suddenly paused and smirked at Rukia. "Well, between you and me," she continued, "I tease him plenty, and he's seen me naked a few times, but it's clear who he has eyes for and I don't mind telling you I think of him as something between a friend, a student, and an adoptive brother by turns. But don't tell him, yeah?"

Rukia blushed a shade as she put together what it meant if Ichigo would try and avoid looking at a woman like Yoruichi.

"Anyway, I like Ichigo, and Ichigo likes you. I also like Byakuya- _bo_ , and he likes you too. So by the transitive property I guess I'm almost like your adoptive big sister as well as each of theirs," the woman pontificated as if she hadn't considered it, before coming back from being side-tracked and asking "Do you want my advice?"

Rukia found the cat woman looking at her and just stared back expectantly, both not sure what to make of her sudden "adoption" and knowing Yoruichi was the sort to speak her mind.

After a moment, reading her look, Yoruichi did precisely that: "I'm sure you've noticed that couples in the ranks of the Shinigami are exceedingly rare. Can you easily think of any off-hand who were both active in the Gotei 13, other than your former _fukutaichō_ and his wife?"

Rukia let the reference go without dwelling on it, finding that was still very slowly becoming easier, and after thinking for a moment shook her head.

"There are four reasons for that. The first is because there are only so many others to pick from. The second is because all kinds of interesting things start to happen with your _reiatsu_ when it's exposed to powerful emotions on a regular basis and that can be difficult and embarrassing to hide even for people who are used to controlling themselves. The third is that making it work is tough because so much of the job revolves around sacrifices. The fourth is that people are afraid of loss. It's a lot easier for your feelings, your reputation, and your sanity if you just don't open up," Yourichi said.

A silence extended between them then before Yoruichi reached out a hand and laid it on one of Rukia's. Rukia blinked and looked back up to meet the woman's gaze, finding she had a soft and considerate smile.

"But as much as you might think you're saving another person from pain, you're also inflicting a different kind of pain upon them if it's reciprocal and you lock them out. Don't wall yourself off," she said.

* * *

Rukia watched as Ichigo woke up and started, surveying his surroundings. Her saw her immediately and said in relief "Rukia."

She said nothing in response at first, and saw the worry immediately start to build on his face. She looked down at her lap then, hair falling to shield her eyes. "We need to talk," she said softly.

"What—" her partner began.

"Shut up, Ichigo," she said, only a bit louder. He fell silent immediately at her tone, and she paused to collect her thoughts. After some time, Rukia began at last: "The more this week went on and things fell into a normal pattern…well, normal for us…the more I thought 'this is fine'." She halted again, "I began to think that maybe it had all just been nerves and stress and joy and…we could go back to how things used to be and it would be fine. We could just be...partners. And I began to think that maybe things were better that way. What we're doing looks to be so dangerous, and I'm ten times your age, and we're from different worlds, and I'm a noble and…" she trailed off.

She clenched her hands into fists, taking in handfuls of her _shihakushō_.

"I thought that being that way again wouldn't be so bad if it meant we would both be safe, even if neither of us would truly be… But then today happened," she said. "The way you just decided to intervene, like you always do, without any thought for yourself. The way you poured everything into it, even as it wasn't truly necessary. You knew that if she really wanted to hurt me, or you, that she would have, and still you…" her voice grew harsh. There was a pause. "I hated you then, Ichigo. With every fiber of my being, I hated you for the risks you take, have always taken, will always take," she said.

She continued before he could say anything. "At the same time, just as much, I… I stopped liking you a long time ago, Ichigo. I know it was the same for you, yet neither of us… We haven't really been partners for a long time now! In that same moment I knew that I loved you just as much, even as I hated you for your total disregard for yourself and for others—I loved you for it just as much, and more than anything else I believed in you! And so not for the first time, and inevitably not for the last, I went along with you as you did something so incredibly stupid and reckless, despite all sense and out of all proportion…"

Rukia looked up at Ichigo then, met his gaze. His eyes were wide. She was far too proud and strong a woman to be weepy and funneled all the iron resolve she had into her stare even as her emotions churned. "I love you, Kurosaki Ichigo! I want to spend the rest of eternity with you. I want…" she again trailed off for a moment, there being more besides that she had too much pride to say even now. "And that's why I need to hear it back from you, right here and right now, not when you fear for my safety, not on some battlefield, not in the middle of a fight, not in a life-or-death situation, not as one of us is about to die, not when one of us is already dying! I need to hear it back from you when the only thing you have to fear is me!"

"Of course I…" Ichigo began as she continued to stare him down. He stopped himself, closed his eyes, breathed. A long silence stretched out between them then. At last he sat up fully to face her, and when he looked at her again the expression in his eyes was completely different. It was the same expression she had seen on him a thousand times: that cocky and self-assured look that was proof that all was right in the world and nothing was ever really at risk. "Kuchiki Rukia," he began again, "I would kill for you; I would give my life for you; I would live my life for you…but really I just want to live my life _with_ you. I…love you."

"Promise me you won't die," she said immediately. She didn't refer to his physical body.

"I promise. Promise me," he replied.

"I promise."

"And we'll work it out no matter what happens."

"And we'll stand and fight together no matter what."

They stared at one another for a long time afterwards, not moving. There was no need to embrace; their _reiatsu_ was so dense around each other now that they scarcely would've felt it if they had. And even still, despite it all, they were both proud people. There'd be time enough later.

* * *

Urahara and Yoruichi sipped tea across a _kotatsu_ from one another, Tessai, Jinta, and Ururu having retreated to the front of the shop to do some work and to intercept the highly probable arrival of the pair's friends when they noticed the _reiatsu_ storm that everyone was politely ignoring in the next room. They could just barely hear that Ichigo and Rukia were talking, but not whatever they were saying to one another. It was obvious what they were discussing.

Yoruichi narrowed her eyes and glanced across her teacup at Urahara, saying quietly "I'm shocked you're not trying to listen in on them."

"Do you take me for some kind of lecherous old man?" Urahara asked with only a faint sense of injury. "Public displays of affection are one thing, but private revelations of the heart are another entirely," he said, adding "Anyway, there's nothing to be learned or recorded."

Yoruichi raised an eyebrow at him at that claim.

"They're both so predictable about such things, and besides," he paused and brought his hat down to cover his eyes, "I know what it's like to be in love."

The Flash Goddess smirked and continued sipping her tea, looking askance.


	18. 2-08: Synchronicity I

**A/N:** **Thank you for any and all** **reviews, favorites, and follows, as well as all you other readers out there!**

 ** _Bleach_ and all products thereof are copyright to Tite Kubo, et al.**

* * *

 **Saturday, February 22, 2003**

By the time that Inoue, Chad, and Ishida arrived and were outside the Urahara Shop trying to get Tessai to let them inside, things inside had already completely deteriorated.

"Absolutely not!" Yourichi could be heard proclaiming from inside.

"What do you mean no?!" Ichigo roared in response.

He was immediately followed by Rukia yelling "It's your fault we lost so many hours!"

"I already apologized to you and everything, Rukia, don't pin this all on me!" Yoruichi exclaimed.

Pushing past Tessai and through the store interior, the trio found the pair standing off against the Flash Goddess. Ichigo stood behind Rukia adamantly with his hands on her shoulders. Rukia had her arms crossed in front of her imperiously and was just as unyielding. Both looked like they'd been thrown into a blender, and were covered in dabs of salve and adhesive and cloth bandages.

Yoruichi, for her part, had quite a few visible bruises and some nicks and cuts of her own, but looked significantly less worse for wear. Urahara was sitting behind her, seemingly pretending he wasn't hearing their argument at all.

"We don't have to fight at full strength, we can just work on forms!" Rukia said forcefully, while still trying to be diplomatic.

"Yeah, at least let us do that much! We came here to learn, damn it, and not just to get beaten up!" Ichigo added, leaning forward somewhat.

Yoruichi frowned heavily, crossing her arms in turn "After the stunt you pulled with releasing all that _reiatsu_ there's no telling—"

"Yoruichi- _san_ ," Urahara interrupted quietly, "they should be fine to do that much."

She turned to Urahara with a twitching eyebrow "But…!"

"Even if pride means nothing to the dead, it still means something to the living," Urahara said, eyes looking up at her from beneath the hat. "You shouldn't offend them so, if they've made such a decision…all things considered. Besides, we should monitor them for a bit; I can't recall having seen a combined _kidō_ exactly like that before," he finished.

The oblique reference to their resolve despite—because?—of what had just transpired between them was not lost on her. It also now dawned on her exactly what the infectious mood they both shared reminded her of, especially when coupled with the _reiatsu_ they'd been throwing off since earlier. It had been so ubiquitous she'd just ignored it. _Oh my...if that's so then working it out through fighting is gonna be mandatory…_ The Flash Goddess turned back to them then, scowling as she saw the looks of determination on their faces. "Forms only," she said harshly.

"Fine but—" Ichigo began, "—we fight—" Rukia continued, "—together!" they finished as one.

Yoruichi let out a " _Tch!_ " of incredulity at what she was seeing happen in front of her. "It'll take both of you together to be a challenge for a long time yet anyway," she taunted. It was then that she turned, being the first to actively take notice of the trio of humans standing at the shop doorway. "Surprised it took you three this long to show up," she said.

"Um, we—we just felt a really weird _reiatsu_ from Kurosaki- _kun_ and Kuchiki- _san_ is all, so we…" Inoue began by way of explanation.

Whatever had happened, it had rippled across Karakura like a series of shockwaves, as if a fuel dump or some kind of chemical plant had exploded. Seeing the two of them standing there now, even as they looked relatively normal visually, it was like they were a single blurred beacon of _reiatsu_ , and they were burning brightly.

"Who are you calling weird?!" both the _shihakushō_ wearers proclaimed testily, turning their heads to glare at their assembled friends.

Inoue threw her hands up in surrender, Chad stared implacably, and Ishida pushed his glasses up. "Come to think of it," the latter said, "I did feel some kind of weird _reiatsu_ earlier, but it was very faint, like if one were to hear a sound that was originating from underwater."

Urahara scratched the back of his head at this and muttered something about calibrations. Given the number of spiritually active people in Karakura now he had begun to try and apply jammer technology to screen activities in the training room from leaking outside. It would do no good if lay people were routinely in fear of what was going on down there.

"Could it be that had something to do with 'a combined _kidō_ '—" Ishida continued, only for Ichigo and Rukia to interrupt him by simultaneously each grabbing one of Yoruichi's wrists and dragging her over to the ladder.

"Hey, what—what do you think you're—" was all the woman could manage before all three were gone. Moments later the distant shouting of three different voices could be heard coming up from the hatch.

"Ishida- _kun_ ," Inoue began, "they both seem really…" and then trailed off. There was no real need to verbalize it as their behavior now was highly unusual, even by recent standards. The _reiatsu_ that leaked off them seemed to be heavily tinged with a variety of emotions, but the far and away most dominant one was an absolute determination, with undercurrents of bloodthirstiness, impatience, and…understanding?

Urahara sighed as his mind caught up with Yoruichi's intuition on the matter. "I see," he cryptically verbalized aloud.

"See what?" Chad asked.

"During the course of training earlier, Kurosaki- _san_ and Kuchiki- _san_ engaged in a combined _kidō_ attack. _Hadō_ 33 specifically," Urahara said, as if this explained anything about their current behavior.

"Kurosaki can barely do _Hadō_ 4 with a full incantation, how on earth could he possibly perform _Hadō_ 33, even with Kuchiki- _san_ 's help?" Ishida asked.

"From what I saw, heard, and felt, it seems that they opted to take a split-shift duty in terms of powering and controlling it, which I'm unaware of anyone having tried before…anyway, it seems this has had the residual effect of making their _reiatsu_ highly synchronous and resonant with one another, and this was only amplified by whatever words they exchanged…usually this kind of thing only happens if…" Urahara trailed off into thought, before turning toward the floor, as if watching them straight through it.

"Usually only happens if what?" Inoue asked, peering at the shopkeeper. His level of evasiveness was unusual, even for him.

Urahara was quiet for quite awhile, and finally in response said only "You're underage."

All three of the humans' mouths dropped at this statement as they immediately processed the inference that was meant by this. Chad and Ishida both blushed subtly while Inoue's eyes grew wide and sparkly in awe.

"Are you, are you saying that two souls, when…" Ishida stammered. He'd never heard of such a thing.

"Since you're clearly going to keep asking," Urahara said with disinterest, "and I guess you're all close to old enough anyway," he added, "when two souls meet intimately, a temporary bond can be formed between them and they can start to act in concert with one another, responding in kind to inputs. This is somewhat similar to the theory of quantum entanglement, if that means anything to you. Another way of putting it is that they're very literally on the same wavelength as one another. The effect is time-limited and proximity-based. Kurosaki- _san_ and Kuchiki- _san_ seem to have replicated this effect, albeit through an altogether different method, which might explain their rather different disposition…usually the mood you would observe would be rather more…domestic."

Ishida frowned at this "They're acting more like a single linked soul right now?" The explanation certainly made sense in conjunction with what they'd all observed lately, even if that was only mild in comparison to what they were seeing now…

"Can't you feel it?" Chad asked.

Below them, the pair's _reiatsu_ was crackling even as they supposedly practiced forms with Yoruichi. The pretense only just barely held to even the most casual observer: they were assaulting her with everything they had; she was simply not retaliating and instead merely blocking and dodging. Every blow they landed radiated the signatures of Rukia's cool and Ichigo's heat at the same time. It was almost impossible to distinguish one from the other remotely as they blitzed about Yoruichi's comparatively rock-solid and distinct reiatsu. The irrepressible aura of willpower they had given off an air of earlier was still increasing.

"How romantic!" Inoue beamed.

"What's romantic about two people both desperately trying to beat someone up from the very depths of their souls?" Ishida muttered.

Inoue uncharacteristically shot him a glare that for an instant could've cut through a mountain before turning back to watch it in amazement. She knew that even if they were aware of what had happened to them, given the circumstances, they wouldn't have called it voyeurism to look at them fight together. And to watch it was…

"Incredible, isn't it?" a new but altogether familiar voice said behind them. All of them, including Ishida who had been momentarily completely frozen in place, turned around to see Isshin Kurosaki. He was wearing a _shihakushō_ with a pauldron on one shoulder holding down a tattered _haori_. All three of Ichigo and Rukia's friends stared wide-eyed at this. They hadn't felt him appear, and his _reiatsu_ seemed extremely faint to them, but he was very clearly suppressing it…

"Oh, Isshin- _san_ , I wondered when you would show up," Urahara said plainly, before turning back to watch events down below.

"This had better not be what I think it is and you had better not have had anything to do with it, Urahara," Isshin began, advancing into the room.

"Can't you feel the difference by now? They performed a combined _kidō_ attack, passed out, and exchanged some words after they had both woken up," Urahara continued, "it just appears to have produced a broadly similar outcome as to what you're thinking of." He never once denied that he had had something to do with it.

"So that's what that feeling was earlier," Isshin said with some degree of surprise, adding "And what did they say to one another, I wonder?" as he came to stand beside the shopkeeper.

"We'll never know," Urahara said with a small smile.

Isshin exhaled, "Well, at least I won't have to beat him up."

"You would have otherwise?" Urahara asked mildly, turning to look at the other man.

"Kurosaki- _kun_ would never take advantage of Kuchiki- _san_!" Inoue forcefully declared. She had caught the drift of the men's conversation and didn't like it one bit.

"That's right, Ichigo and Kuchiki- _san_ are—" Chad began.

He stopped as both men turned to look at the three teens, and Isshin found himself raising an eyebrow as if he had just now become aware of their presence despite having clearly done so earlier. He surveyed the three without saying anything. They now looked more irritated at his seemingly low opinion of Ichigo than dumbfounded by his presence and appearance. "It was a joke," he said.

"Ah, Isshin- _san_ , you are…were…a _taichō_?" Ishida asked. A lot of things suddenly clicked into place in his mind that he hadn't known were incomplete.

Isshin looked at the Quincy and then the other two, narrowing his eyes fractionally. "He didn't tell you?"

They all shook their heads simultaneously.

"I guess he's smarter than I give him credit for sometimes," he said, turning to watch what was going on below. "She knows she's going to have to fight them to exhaustion with the way they are now, right?" he asked, having picked up on their mood. With the way they had harmonized, they would be completely unrelenting. It was a self-reinforcing process now.

"I'm sure she figured that out before, but if she didn't she surely knows by now," Urahara said.

"We should help her if it takes too long," Isshin said.

"That would ruin your surprise," Urahara said meaningfully, adding "She can handle it." There was a long silence between the two men before Urahara adjusted his hat, saying "Indeed, who's ruining evenings now…?"

"Should…we go?" Chad asked of the two men.

"No," both replied, both their tones making it clear that it was non-negotiable. Chad and Ishida looked at one another awkwardly before taking seats at the _kotatsu_. Inoue joined them but was completely unphased.

"Tell me everything that happened during their training earlier," Isshin said after awhile.

* * *

Ichigo dragged himself along the ground toward one of Yoruichi's feet. Rukia was on the other side of her and together they could still—

"Give it up already!" the Flash Goddess exclaimed. It was now evening. She was a bit winded and covered in sweat, but had held off the two without further injuring them or herself and had eventually brought them to a standstill through sheer attrition. They had collapsed from exhaustion five minutes ago and had been feebly trying to continue ever since. "I get that you made a romantic declaration to fight to the end and all but you've fought well and you're clearly done for the day by now, so knock it off!"

"Were you listening?!" Rukia shouted incredulously. She could barely move anything other than her mouth.

"No! It was just obvious to anyone who remotely knows anything about the two of you at all what transpired! I'm even the one who suggested you…! _Tch_ , haven't you even noticed what your _reiatsu_ has been doing?" Yoruichi said. She was by now rather aggravated about how clueless they had seemed.

"What are you—" Ichigo started, even as he became dimly aware of Rukia realizing what she was talking about, only to be immediately distracted at the sudden feeling of a tremendous and familiar _reiatsu_ appearing near them. _This is_ …

"Were you waiting for an invitation?" Yoruichi complained, turning to face the new arrival.

"Urahara said you had it under control and that it would ruin the surprise," a voice declared. There was no mistaking the fact that it was his father. Isshin's feet and _hakama_ walked into both Rukia and Ichigo's view, coming to rest beside Yoruichi. "I can take it from here," he said.

"You're not mad are you?" she asked, showing a sudden concern for her charges.

"Nah, Urahara explained everything. It was something that was predictable in hindsight, I just need to talk with them," he replied. Neither Rukia nor Ichigo could see the two older ex-Shinigami well, finding it hard to lift their heads.

"I'll hold you to that," Yoruichi warned, before she said "Since I'm sure you want some privacy, and I have to go beat that man up…" and excused herself, walking out from between the group.

Isshin seemed to either watch her go or to consider the son and one-time adopted third daughter at his feet, or possibly both, for some time. At last he said "So, you two want to be next to one another for this?"

"Don't taunt us," Ichigo said.

"It's not a taunt," Isshin's voice said noncommittally from above him, "you're both going to be here for awhile, so I figure you might as well be as comfortable as you can be. You know, other than being on the ground. Come on, last offer."

"Put me next to him," Rukia said, looking to meet Ichigo's gaze. He could see she wasn't ashamed in the slightest and that both did and didn't surprise him.

Isshin obliged and gingerly plucked her up by the waist, setting her back down side-by-side with Ichigo, both on their stomachs. Rukia promptly hooked one of her arms around Ichigo's and grasped his hand tightly, resting her chin on her other arm and looking ahead at the pair of feet before them. It was then that Isshin dropped into a cross-legged sitting position about a meter in front of them and gave them a disarming and considered look. They were pretty cute together now, if in a rather different way. "What a difference a week makes, huh?" he said.

"I told you not to—" Ichigo began to say.

"Shut up, I'm just appreciating the fact that you're both being so open now, it's a beautiful thing!" Isshin said dismissively. He looked up at the artificial sky for awhile before asking "So, first question, you know what's been happening just now, right?"

"Soul linkage," they both said tiredly.

"I'm guessing you just recently figured it out from Rukia, Ichigo?" Isshin asked.

"Yeah," he replied.

"And you were too wrapped up in whatever it was you said to one another to recognize it, Rukia?"

"Yes," she said.

"And I'm guessing you both know how it usually—"

"Yes," they both said testily, not wanting to hear the lecture.

"Okay, next question: Rukia, how long have you known who I am?" Isshin asked.

"I suspected something ever since I met you, but I didn't know for sure until I became a _fukutaichō_ and looked it up. Nobody told me, and we had never met in person before then. So, since I've been back, functionally," she said.

Ichigo said nothing at this, already having a vague idea over their residual linkage.

"And why didn't you tell Ichigo?" Isshin asked.

"It wasn't my place to," she replied, still feeling no shame. Ichigo could tell she sincerely believed it, and felt no reservations toward her position.

"Alright, final question: do you remember when you told me I could tell you what had really happened whenever I felt it was right to do so?" Isshin asked to neither of them in particular.

Both Ichigo and Rukia's eyes went wide in recognition. Rukia spoke up then: "Wait, why are you doing this when I'm here?!"

Isshin smiled softly down at her. "They knew," he said, "When they roped him into this they knew. But I guess they figured it wasn't their place to tell him either. Well, I wouldn't know. And now you're mixed up in it too, so you have just as much a right to know as he does…besides, it seems you're now his better half in more ways that one. As to why now…call it a gut feeling."

Ichigo gripped Rukia's hand securely and she said nothing else.

With that, Isshin told the pair about how, when he had been _taichō_ Isshin Shiba of the 10th Division, he had met a Quincy named Masaki Kurosaki, and had fought the Hollow White. He told them about how he had met Ryūken Ishida, and how the three of them had met Kisuke Urahara. He told them about how the latter had stabilized Masaki's Quincy soul against Hollowfication by getting him to inhabit a _gigai_ and having his Shinigami powers shackled to her. He told them about how their relationship had progressed. He told them about how on June 17, 1996, Masaki and Ishida's mother, Kanae Katagiri, had ultimately died in their own unique ways because of something called Auswählen.

And he told them about a man named Yhwach.


	19. 2-09: Love Is A Blade

**A/N:** **Thank you for any and all** **reviews, favorites, and follows, as well as all you other readers out there!**

 ** _Bleach_ and all products thereof are copyright to Tite Kubo, et al.**

* * *

 **Saturday, February 22, 2003**

Ichigo dug the fingers of his free hand into the ground of the training room floor. Rukia continued to grip his other hand steadily in hers and turned her head to look at him with sympathy. Their link had faded now, and was only just barely if at all still present, but even without it she could feel his turmoil. She didn't know the words to say to make it better, so she just held onto him.

"And so now you know everything that I know," Isshin said to them at last, exhaling. It had taken about three-quarters of an hour to explain, but then again he had been rather exhaustive. It had been tough to read their reactions throughout the whole story. He didn't really know what either might be thinking, except that Rukia now showed concern and empathy for Ichigo.

None of them said anything for awhile, until at last Ichigo spoke up. His tone was reigned in as he said "The General said 'Your current mission can be thought of as a training day' and told us to get stronger. She said that when we were, they'd 'assist as necessary in putting Soul Society's outstanding issues to order'." He said nothing else for awhile. "So 'outstanding issues' means him, right? That's why they want us to get stronger, so we can fight him?"

"If that's what you were told, then it sure sounds like it," Isshin replied. He considered Ichigo and Rukia gravely. It went unsaid that if the Americans were willing to lend a hand against Yhwach it was because there was something even worse on the other side of him that they in turn needed help with. There was no point in thinking about what that might be right this moment.

"I see," Ichigo said at last.

Rukia's eyes widened as she realized what was happening first. "Ichigo..." she muttered.

 _Reiatsu_ was again pouring out from him despite all the _reiryoku_ he'd spent that day. The hand he'd dug into the dirt clenched into a fist as he began to slowly push himself up on it and brought a knee up under himself.

"Hey, hey, easy now, you're in no state to be—" Isshin began, suddenly showing real fatherly concern.

" _Oto-san_ …dad…thank you," Ichigo said, looking up to meet his gaze. Isshin blinked at this, and his features once more firmed up in response.

At that, Ichigo brought his other leg up under himself, and both pulled and scooped up Rukia. Realizing what he was doing and in no great position to oppose it, she let go of his hand at the last second and weakly slid her arms around his neck, bringing her head beside his. He stood with her, picking her up and holding her against him, one arm around her waist and the other beneath her rear. She just managed to get her legs around his core and whispered "Better watch those hands, fool," in his ear.

Ichigo replied "Kuchiki- _dono_ , you really should know better by now than to insult the help." He gave his old man one last glance only to find he was smirking at the way they were behaving together. "Don't you start either!"

Isshin held his hands up in response before Ichigo turned to start walking back toward the ladder. He was now facing Rukia and she just smiled at him for a moment before turning her face against Ichigo's neck. He was sure that under any other circumstance she'd be embarrassed as hell at all this, but not today. Today she looked like she was proud of Ichigo. He smiled despite himself. "So, what are you gonna do, Ichigo?" he called out after the retreating couple.

Ichigo stopped and for a moment said nothing, before saying "We're too beat up today to continue training or to do anything about what you just said, so I guess the only thing to do is rest up and continue tomorrow." He stood still for another moment, before calling back out "Dad…why today?"

"I said that Urahara told me what happened," Isshin said, "I guessed that you were beginning to understand some things and would find out sooner or later, and so I thought it might as well be sooner."

Ichigo tilted his head as if in understanding at this, although the motion also brought his head to rest against Rukia's. "Hey, you want to eat dinner with my family tomorrow?" he whispered into her ear.

"As long as we don't stay too late," she whispered in reply, lightly gripping his back.

Ichigo tilted and turned his head away from her so he wouldn't deafen her, calling back "Hey, dad, we'll be coming over for dinner tomorrow, so tell Yuzu, yeah?"

"Oh, what an honor," Isshin said in what was only slightly a jibe, before adding "Sure thing." And with that, Ichigo and Rukia were gone, the former having used _shunpo_ to get the latter up the ladder.

Isshin rubbed the back of his head and said "Hmm, maybe I didn't do such a bad job after all, dear," to nobody in particular.

* * *

Ichigo landed at the top with Rukia securely still in his arms to find Ishida, Inoue, Chad, Yoruichi, and Urahara all sitting around a _kotatsu_ having tea. Urahara did not look any different despite Yoruichi's earlier threats.

"Ah, Kurosaki- _kun_!" Inoue started, before seeing Rukia. "Is Kuchiki- _san_ alright?!"

"I'm fine, everything is fine," Rukia muttered from against Ichigo's neck.

Ishida adjusted his glasses as he looked at the pair. Their _reiatsu_ had gradually differentiated itself again since somewhat before Yoruichi had exhausted their fighting spirit, and had reverted more or less completely in the time since Isshin had gone downstairs. As they stood before them now, they were essentially back to normal, although Rukia still seemed quite drained. Ichigo had, judging by the spike in his _reiatsu_ a few minutes ago, found some previously untapped reserve of power. This was unusual, but so was everything else about him.

"Everyone," Ichigo said, before looking puzzled, "When did you get here?"

"You don't remember?" Chad asked.

Rukia stealthily and gently nipped his neck to quietly get his attention. "Uh, sorry, kinda forgot with all that was going on, um, we'll—we're gonna be back in a minute in our bodies," Ichigo said, before making his way to a side room where he'd left his body and Rukia had left her _gigai_.

Everyone else watched them go before exchanging looks. "Are you sure they're back to normal?" Chad said.

"Don't look at me," Yoruichi replied, sipping at her tea. She was still dehydrated and in no mood for any further adventures or arguments today.

"They looked normal to me. As far as such a thing is possible, anyway," Ishida said.

Inoue just smiled.

* * *

Ichigo knelt down beside their physical forms with Rukia, releasing his grip on her somewhat. "Hey, are you okay?" he whispered to her.

She lifted her head and he caught a glimpse of her eyes before she closed them and brought her forehead against his. Their noses touched and he could feel her breath against his lips. Her arms tightened around his neck slightly. "Rukia…" he whispered, cheeks flushing. After a second, he closed his eyes in turn and brought his arms around her waist. They held onto one another then, just breathing together.

He couldn't feel whatever it was she felt anymore, couldn't sense her thoughts like some sort of second instinct, but he didn't need to in order to understand her perfectly in that moment. He resolved then that they would talk more later, even as he said nothing to ruin the moment.

After what seemed like hours she pulled her head back and they looked at one another. She regarded him with the chill, arrogant expression of nobility she could wear, but the effect was betrayed by the little smirk she had and the warm look in her eyes. "We're making them wait," she said, a dignified tone in her voice. Ichigo gave a tight smile and let her go, and they both got back into physical form.

* * *

Their friends were shocked upon their return by the completely different mood that they conveyed. Gone were the by turns volatile and exhausted Shinigami they had seen earlier. The difference was hard to pinpoint, but it was there in every smallest motion and expression. Rukia moved with a grace and elegance and Ichigo with a swagger and confidence that neither had demonstrated once the entire day. It was a seemingly miraculous transformation that left the gathering at the table as confused as their exit minutes ago had.

"Ah, Kurosaki- _san_ …Kuchiki- _san_ , we were just about to check and see if—" Ishida began.

"Our apologies for making you all so concerned," Rukia said with a small smile. It wasn't quite her schoolgirl voice, as her tone was normal and it sounded entirely genuine, but the cadence was definitely evocative of it.

"I take it my dad already left?" Ichigo asked plainly.

"After the two of you came up," Chad said.

"Would you care to join us for tea, Kurosaki- _san_ , Kuchiki- _san_?" Urahara asked.

"Unfortunately, some fool has unilaterally determined that our mission is to recover so that we can fight again tomorrow, and so we have to excuse ourselves," Rukia replied, looking sideways in mock judgment of Ichigo.

Ichigo seemed to completely ignore the slight and lifted a hand to hold out two fingers to Urahara and Yoruichi. "We'll be back tomorrow," he said, as if what had happened today was no big thing. He brought the hand up into a wave and added "See the rest of you then if you're coming by," with a small smile before turning, casually slipping an arm around one of Rukia's, and walking out through the shop. Rukia was alongside him every step of the way.

Yoruichi exhaled and drank her cup in a single swig before pouring herself another, muttering "I think maybe I made a mistake."

"Don't begrudge them their happiness," Urahara chided her.

"You didn't have to fight them off for five hours!" she hissed, adding "You're helping out tomorrow. You have no excuse for not helping with _hakuda_."

"Sado- _kun_ ," Inoue said, "have they always been that…cool?"

"Not always," Chad replied after a moment of consideration. It was like they were for the moment the peak versions of themselves as they had once been, but there was something different about them as well. They were clearly in love, that much was obvious, but beyond that there was a certain strength to them…he suddenly recalled something his _abuelo_ had once said. " _Una marea alta levanta todos los barcos_ :" a rising tide lifts all boats. What he couldn't determine was whether they were only the first boats riding a wave, or the tide itself. If things were as severe as they had made it sound, one would assume it to be the first, but knowing them it could just as easily be the second. Either way… "Something is coming," he said.

Everyone turned to look at the young giant's strange comment. He clearly wasn't speaking about the immediate present. Urahara and Yoruichi said nothing and their expressions turned grim as they glanced at one another.

"This is how Kurosaki- _kun_ and Kuchiki- _san_ have decided to confront whatever that is," Inoue said quietly, but with a confidence that was unusual. "They're going to stand together," she continued "strong and unbowed in the face of everything."

"Inoue…" Ishida said in response, surprised by her analysis.

Urahara let out a sudden loud sigh at the turn in the atmosphere and stood, saying "Well, it's getting late! I take it we should expect all of you tomorrow morning as well?"

"Yes," the three teenagers affirmed in turn as they rose. With that they excused themselves and made their way out of the shop. Inoue and Chad, living quite close to one another, went one way. Ishida, living in the opposite direction, went in the other.

* * *

Rukia and Ichigo unlocked the door and walked back inside the house they were still only slowly starting to call home. They took off their shoes and made their way to the couch together, sitting down and sprawling out next to each other in silence. It was the first time all day they'd really had a moment to just relax. They sat in their own worlds for a minute before Rukia glanced over at him.

Pushing herself back up to an upright sitting position, she picked her way over to and atop Ichigo, turning him so he was parallel to the length of the couch before resting her head against his chest and sliding her arms under his. Ichigo wordlessly brought his arms up around her and slid a hand up to the back of her neck, gently rubbing. She let out a sigh and settled against him. He watched her for a moment before relaxing in turn.

After a minute he could feel Rukia giggling against him. "What's so funny?" he asked.

"I just remembered that Ganju and Kūkaku are your cousins," she said quietly.

Ichigo exhaled and complained mildly "Why'd you have to go and say something like that?"

She lightly nuzzled at his chest in response, teasing "Don't speak so poorly of your relatives; I was just thinking that technically you're a noble too."

"Didn't the Shiba clan lose its status as a great noble family?" Ichigo asked idly. He didn't know anything about Soul Society's politics.

"Status is one thing and lineage is another," Rukia replied.

"Why would all that matter anyway? Kūkaku would probably just beat me up more if she knew…" Ichigo said with mild irritation at the thought.

"What makes you think she doesn't know? Didn't she treat you basically just like Ganju?" she asked, before laughing "It seems you have an odd tendency of accumulating surrogate sisters, Ichigo."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, transitioning from rubbing her neck to massaging it in reprisal for her mockery at his expense.

"Mmm, nothing," Rukia said. By her count, he now had at least three older stand-ins in Kūkaku, Ikumi, and Yoruichi, and a mostly-younger one in Nel Tu. Tatsuki sometimes acted like an exasperated equivalently aged one, and Inoue seemed to be increasingly acting like a concerned one. All parties would probably deny it. "Anyway," she continued, "If you're a noble, it'll make things easier."

"What things?" Ichigo said, still not entirely following the topic. He was imagining Kūkaku screaming at him to do push-ups.

"Things with us," Rukia said meaningfully. She slid one of her hands up between the back of Ichigo's head and the pillow he was resting against.

Ichigo was silent for awhile. "Your brother," he said eventually.

" _Nii-sama_ might interfere in his own ways but he wouldn't truly act against my happiness; it becomes much easier for him to convince the rest of the clan though if proper tradition seems to be being followed," she said.

Ichigo said nothing to this, not really wanting to think about the courtship of nobles and suitors and all that kind of nonsense. It wasn't like their own relationship had exactly been the modern norm either, but after today's events, after they'd finally admitted their feelings and pledged themselves to one another, none of that mattered really. He didn't think of Rukia as his, or himself as hers, they were each their own and the other's equally. They were a unit. They were…the words "Combined Task Force Raven One" echoed through his mind again and he grimaced even as he grinned. "That bastard," he muttered.

"Don't call _nii-sama_ that," Rukia said irritably.

"Not Byakuya, I was just thinking of that guy," Ichigo said, returning to the moment.

Rukia paused at this before adding "Well…although I don't disapprove, you probably shouldn't call him that either. I hate to admit it, but all this is in many ways the result of their actions, particularly his."

Ichigo really didn't want to think about it that way and so they laid against one another in silence then. His mind drifted onto other things, like what being part-Quincy meant. He remembered the glasses then, remembered having caught sight of himself in the peripheral view of them the last time he'd worn them. His aura had been a strange looking purple. And Karin and Yuzu were that light fuchsia. In their case, red, blue, and white all added together. He was the same except with some yellow thrown in. Human, Shinigami, Hollow, and Quincy—he was all of them. He had guessed something like that from the moment the Morning Star had powered him back up, but this was the first time he was really forced to meditate on it.

His thoughts turned then on what his dad had said. He considered it only out of the corners of his mind's eye, refusing to look at it directly then. He already knew. He knew both parts of the equation, but to acknowledge them right now would ruin his time with Rukia, and so he looked sideways at the truth, hardening his resolve to deal with it the next day.

Rukia's voice calling his name snapped him back to the moment. She had become aware of where his thoughts had likely gone when his hand had stilled and his _reiatsu_ had begun to fluctuate. She knew too, or could guess. She had heard the voice in his head during their earlier battle with Yoruichi, the one that had screamed out **Yes, attack! Attack! Attack, attack, attack!** She had never seen the Hollow in his conscience before, but she had seen it then, as surely as she had seen Zangetsu and as Ichigo had seen Sode no Shirayuki. The three entities in their two souls had not been surprised by one another at all. And Zangetsu had been silent. One of the very last things she had felt across her link from Ichigo was the Hollow's laughter, as if she had heard it from a great distance.

Ichigo opened his eyes to find she'd lifted herself up and moved forward against him, had tilted his head up. Her face was only a few centimeters away from his, and she was smiling softly. After a second of eye-contact she closed her eyes and the distance between them, bringing her lips softly against his. He was still for a moment then, and so she kissed him first. That seemed to break the spell and he closed his eyes in turn as his hand slid up into her hair. He kissed her back. They held it for awhile, enjoying and exploring one another for the first time, before Rukia broke it off and laid her head beside his.

She listened to him breathe for a moment, before saying to him "If we only ever focused on what was in front of us instead of what we have, our resolve would become hard but brittle. And if we did the reverse, it would become ductile but soft. Doing both is what'll keep us strong, Ichigo. It's okay for us to remind ourselves what we're fighting for. That's the only way we'll keep fighting for it."

Ichigo turned his head to look at Rukia then, staring into her eyes. She met his gaze equally for a long while before closing her eyes once more and again pressing her forehead to his. He turned with her, pulling her close. She buried in against him. A thousand things came to mind to say but he didn't like any of them and so he just held her tightly. _Rukia, I promise…Xcution…Yhwach…whatever the Americans are afraid of…we'll cut through them all. We'll do it together._

 **Now you're starting to think like a real King** , a voice echoed in response.


	20. 2-10: Orbital Resonance

**A/N:** **I haven't said this before when invoking Sode no Shirayuki, but I'm choosing to acknowledge her anime appearance while disregarding the anime-only filler arcs.** **Thank you for any and all** **reviews, favorites, and follows, as well as all you other readers out there!**

 ** _Bleach_ and all products thereof are copyright to Tite Kubo, et al.**

* * *

 **Sunday, February 23, 2003**

Ichigo woke up to the sound of Rukia yawning. Opening his eyes revealed her sitting beside and looking down at him, backlit by the sun coming in through the window. He realized he had no immediate idea how he'd gotten to be where he was. They were in her room and she was wearing pajamas, and he was as well, so the consequences couldn't be too bad, whatever had happened.

She smiled down at him even as she adopted a sardonic expression, saying "And I thought I was going to have to do something drastic to wake you up."

It hit him then all at once. They had dozed off against one another on the couch before getting up late into the night to shower and change for bed. She had sneaked into his room right as he'd finished brushing his teeth and wordlessly tugged him along, ignoring his every protest and question to drag him to her bed. They had held each other for a time before truly falling asleep again. He blinked in confusion up at her.

Her smile widened as she leaned down and poked his nose. "Don't act so weird, space heater- _kun_ ," she said in her schoolgirl voice, before sitting back up and getting off the other side of the bed, adding in a callous tone "Now get out of my room unless you want to watch me get dressed, fool."

"H—Hey! What the hell, you can't just throw me out like that after you're the one who brought me in here in the first place! And what kind of a threat is that anyway?!" Ichigo said with sudden indignation.

Rukia was at a dresser and turned back to shoot him a glare that could've been mistaken for some sort of laser charging up. She opened a drawer with a huff and held up two different pairs of panties, demanding "So, Ichigo, do you think it's a black silk and lace day or a grey cotton day?"

Ichigo flushed a deep red and held up his hands to shield himself from the sight. "Rukia, what—what the hell," he managed to get out at her sudden escalation.

"If you're not going to help out then get out already!" she shouted.

Ichigo clamped a hand over his eyes, and pulled the covers off himself, standing up and navigating to the door. He smacked into the door frame before getting through it and closing the door behind himself. He never saw Rukia's triumphant grin at having flustered him so. If it bothered him that much then it meant Yoruichi had been right about who he really did have eyes for. She pondered asking the older woman for tips.

Through the door Ichigo could hear her humming and opening and closing drawers before her bathroom door shut and the shower came on. He exhaled and went into his own room, likewise picking out some clothes before going to take an unseasonably cold shower. Despite everything, and despite having occasionally seen her in compromising circumstances during their cohabitations of his family's house, he didn't really think of her in that kind of way much. Even if it was natural, he just had too much respect for her to let his mind freely go there. He'd never been chaste or anything but…he grabbed the shower's temperature knob and lowered it still further, until it was all the way down. _Don't think you can get away with this, Kuchiki Rukia!_

He refused to scream or in any way complain at how cold it was, instead moving with efficiency to get out and get dressed. Getting out long before she ever would, he went to make breakfast. They hadn't had anything to eat the previous day other than breakfast, and although their bodies had been idle, he found he was starving. He also felt that it was a coffee day. He wound up putting together a hearty meal of his own take on _tamagoyaki_ , a rather large helping of baked fish, and some rice and vegetables. Getting back at Rukia through better cooking was only one part of his strategy.

By the time she walked out of her room he had laid out the spread on the table along with two steaming mugs of coffee (with creamer and sugar) and was patiently waiting for her to arrive before beginning himself. He wouldn't be undone by her flirting, or cold water, or hunger, not today of all days. If he couldn't stand up to those things, how could he possibly…

"You sure have been busy," she said, sitting down opposite him.

"You just take a long time to get dressed," he said dismissively. She kicked him in the shin lightly but he ignored it in favor of starting in. _Not even a word of thanks!_ They were both well into their meals—she had been just as hungry, apparently—and she happened to be sipping at the now warm coffee when he asked her nonchalantly "So did you pick black or grey?"

She spat out the drink and almost dropped the mug as she looked at him in surprise. She immediately put the mug down and stood up, leaning forward as if to slap him from across the table when suddenly she stopped. Her eyes fell into an alluring half-open state as a devilish smirk came onto her face. "Oh, I see, suddenly interested now are you?" she taunted.

Ichigo met her look directly with one of completely steadfast indifference, saying "Not really, it just seemed like a big deal to you."

Rukia stood up fully opposite him, a completely superior expression on her face and an ominous twinkle in her eyes. "Well, I guess if you're so concerned about my choices I could show you," she said. A day ago, she would've never played such a game even with Ichigo, but things between them were different now, and so too was the game. It was a game just for them, just between them, and one she had decided she would always win.

Ichigo gave no immediate response except a raised eyebrow even as inside his head alarms were going off to warn him. _No way, she wouldn't possibly…_ She was just beginning to take hold of her long skirt to potentially call his bluff when the doorbell rang.

Both their heads turned to the door, their taunting of one another immediately forgotten. "Who could that be at this hour?" Rukia said.

Ichigo shoved his chair back and stood, making his way past her to the door. "It's probably a package or something from those guys." Their indirectness in referring to Nightmare Eclipse had become by now commonplace enough to enter their private conversations, if not quite their thoughts.

Rukia blinked as Ichigo went past her and then frowned, realizing he had just managed to evade her ultimate victory over him. She used her napkin to mop up the coffee splatter, plotting her revenge at his good fortune.

The doorbell rang again right as Ichigo was walking up to the entrance. "Yeah, yeah," he said, unlocking the door and opening it. He was immediately struck dumb by who was on other side. "You guys?!"

Rukia's eyes widened and her head snapped up as she heard Renji's voice declare "Yo, Ichigo!" and her brother's add in "Kurosaki- _gunsō_ ," in greeting as much as in correction of Renji. _I was about to…when_ nii-sama _and Renji were…_ She spun around to see Ichigo standing like an idiot in the doorway.

"So can we come in?" Renji said, "It's kinda cold out here."

"Y-yeah, come on in…" Ichigo said, moving out of the way. And with that the _taichō_ and _fukutaichō_ of the 6th Division were in their home. They were in _gigai_ and wore modern fashion, both in long coats against the weather. Renji was carting two small suitcases; it was clear they intended to stay awhile. They presently took off their coats and shoes.

" _Nii-sama_ , Renji!" Rukia exclaimed, with genuine cheer as much as to hide her own embarrassment at what had been happening before their arrival. She came up to the three men right as it dawned on her how unusual this was. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Decision of the _sōtaichō_ ," Renji said, glancing at Byakuya in a way the latter wouldn't see.

"Indeed, the _sōtaichō_ was convinced that an independent assessment of your conditions here in the Living World was a wise decision," Byakuya said. He did not address whether Yamamoto had come to this opinion on his own, or whether he had been convinced of it, and if so, by whom. There was no need; his final words to Ichigo the week before made all the answers clear. "We are here to observe your work week, Rukia. Kurosaki- _gunsō_ ," he concluded.

Rukia and Ichigo exchanged a glance that communicated volumes about the futility of trying to resist before Ichigo looked at Byakuya with a slightly nervous smile "B—Kuchiki- _taichō_ , considering the nature of our mission, it will be suspicious if we continue to address each other by formal ranks."

"A sound observation, Kurosaki," Byakuya said, starting to finally regard their place of abode. His expression gave away nothing of whatever assessments he was making.

"Are either of you hungry? Ichigo fixed breakfast this morning and we still have plenty," Rukia offered, gesturing toward the dining room.

"Yeah," Ichigo added, "I can get some more plates!"

"Thank you, Rukia, but I will survey these lodgings instead," Byakuya replied, before giving Renji a do-what-you-will glance and starting to inspect the house.

"I'm starving!" Renji said, happily moving to the dining room.

Ichigo and Rukia shared another look and Ichigo went to get Renji a plate, the pair joining him at the breakfast table. Both found that their appetites had deserted them at this development and only had a few more bites. Renji gladly wolfed down what they left over. The pair of Shinigami had apparently not eaten and had left Soul Society before sunrise.

"So, how did you find out we were here anyway?" Ichigo asked of his friend. Byakuya was, in the background, systematically going over the house and having apparently finished with the office, was now looking at the guest bedroom.

"We went to your house first and your dad told us the two of you were living here. This is a pretty nice place, Ichigo, how did somebody like you wind up with it?" Renji replied. He caught Rukia's narrowed glance and added "No offense or anything."

"It was a gift," Ichigo said absent-mindedly, before whispering "He's not going to poke through our bedrooms drawer by drawer or anything is he?"

Renji looked at Rukia and then back at him and shrugged, having no earthly idea. He just barely managed to hold back his congratulations on the fact they did have separate bedrooms, or else Ichigo would surely be dead soon. He had the feeling if he voiced the thought it'd be his funeral everyone would be attending instead.

As if on cue, Byakuya left the guest bedroom and office alcove and went to the other one, surveying their bedrooms. He scarcely bothered with Ichigo's room, and didn't spend much longer in Rukia's, apparently only sufficiently long to confirm she had furnishings and clothes in her closet. After that he considered the backyard and moved past them to the kitchen. The trio of friends at the table found themselves silent in his presence, Renji just quietly eating.

Finally Byakuya walked up to the dining room table, elegantly withdrew a chair, and took a seat, considering quietly. "I am satisfied with these accommodations," he said at last, "Renji, you may take my bag to the guest bedroom."

"Yes, sir," Renji said, snapping up and going to do as ordered.

Byakuya then turned his cold gaze to Rukia and Ichigo, and then to the remains of the breakfast on the table. None of them said anything for awhile. Byakuya said: "I believe that if I asked as to how you had acquired this residence that I would receive an evasive answer in the understanding that it has to do with your newfound position, Kurosaki?" It wasn't actually a question.

"Yes," Ichigo said simply.

"Indeed. And your methods of providing for yourself and for my sister are of the same origin?" Byakuya continued. It was again not really a question.

"Yes," Ichigo said again.

"I see. And this source is both legitimate and stable?" Byakuya asked. This time, there was a hint of a question: he was demanding an assurance.

"Yes," Ichigo said for a third time, before adding "I'm currently on a six-month renewable contract. The house and assets are irrevocable."

" _Nii-sama_ ," Rukia said gently to draw her brother's attention, "Ichigo has been taking care of all the cooking and cleaning and everything, except when I want to try my hand at learning it. One of his sisters has been very helpful and patient in educating me."

Byakuya seemed to evaluate the two of them in silence. "Kurosaki, understand that my sister is not beholden to you in any fashion for any and all expenses you willingly take upon yourself, even in her name," he said at last.

"Believe me, I know, and I would never consider it to be otherwise," Ichigo said earnestly.

"As long as you understand that point, and since you now appear to be a man of sufficient means, I will not extend the financial assistance of the Kuchiki clan to your efforts here," Byakuya concluded.

Ichigo blinked, not entirely grasping the man's meaning. _If I was unemployed, he'd subsidize me as well as Rukia?_ He glanced at her then and she gave him a look that conveyed that this finding by Byakuya was a good thing.

"Renji," Byakuya said, "Based on my assessment of the living quarters here, you will board with Kurosaki—if that is acceptable to him." Byakuya's eyes slid over to Ichigo. It was clear that the noble was willing to grant him final control over his own home, regardless of how he had come about it.

"Yeah, that's fine, he'll need access to a shower and that's better than having him stay in the living room," Ichigo conceded.

"Yes, sir!" Renji replied again as he exited the guest bedroom. It became immediately obvious that he had been waiting there while Byakuya discussed things with Rukia and Ichigo. He took his own bag to Ichigo's room before rejoining them at the table.

"Renji will be accompanying the two of you during your daily routine. Rukia has already informed both Ukitake- _taichō_ and myself that she has resumed attending your school as part of your cover," Byakuya said upon Renji's return, before adding "He will report to me, and I will consider his observations in addition to my own in my final independent report to the _sōtaichō_. Is that understood?"

Rukia and Ichigo both nodded, Rukia adding "Yes, _nii-sama_."

"Very well," Byakuya replied, "Based on your current state of dress I assume you had some sort of plans for today; please inform us of them now."

Ichigo and Rukia looked at each other. "We were going to Urahara Shop to train with our friends, _nii-sama_ ," Rukia said.

"We've been working on learning _hakuda_ and _hohō_ with Yoruichi- _san_. Rukia has also been instructing me and everyone else in _kidō_. We'll probably cover these again later today but our main focus will be…engaging in _jinzen_ ," Ichigo added. The two had decided in their own ways what they would do the night before, and had discerned they were in agreement without ever really saying as much. It occurred to him then that they would be unable to hide the other side of their training commitments from the Shinigami given they had a different performance review next weekend. A shared look with Rukia confirmed she was having the same thought.

They noticed both Renji and Byakuya seemed to be scrutinizing them for their newfound interest in _zankensoki_. "In that case, we shall accompany you to observe and potentially assist in your training," Byakuya said, and it was clearly non-negotiable.

* * *

By the time they arrived at the Urahara Shop it was mid-morning and only Ururu and Jinta were still above-ground. Neither remarked much on the arrival of the four, and so they left their physical forms behind in one of the back rooms and proceeded downstairs. Ichigo and Rukia surreptitiously touched hands in a moment when they were certain neither Byakuya nor Renji were watching to reaffirm their resolves. It was likely to be the last time they could do so for the day.

As a group, they descended into the training room, finding Tessai working with Inoue, Yoruichi working with Chad, and Urahara conversing with Ishida. They all looked up at the arrival of Ichigo and Rukia's _reiatsu_ just as Byakuya and Renji released the holds they had been keeping on their own.

"Oh, Kurosaki- _san_ ," Urahara called out, "We were starting to wonder if you weren't all talk yesterday; I suppose we should have known you and Kuchiki- _san_ were delayed by guests!" Something in his tone conveyed he had known of their presence all along. He then continued: "Kuchiki- _taichō_ , Abarai- _kun_ , welcome!"

Yoruichi called out "Good to see you, Byakuya- _bo_!" with a mischievous grin. The teenagers mostly reserved their greetings for Renji.

The three training pairs came to meet the newly arrived group of four. "So, what brings you two gentlemen to this humble shop?" Urahara asked, eyes glinting from under his hat.

"We were sent by the _sōtaichō_ to observe the circumstances and training of the special assignment squad," Renji said, referring obviously to Ichigo and Rukia. "Since they were coming here, of course we had to come too, and maybe we can help out," he added.

"I see," was all Urahara said in response.

"So, will be it be the same thing as yesterday?" Yoruichi asked, looking at her two new pupils. There was a glint in her eyes: today she was much more thoroughly prepared and had dragooned Urahara into helping her.

"No," both Rukia and Ichigo said with a confidence that drew the glance of everyone, including Byakuya. They were suddenly all business. Each subconsciously placed a hand on the hilts of their _zanpakutō_ as they stated "We'll be starting with _jinzen_." Their two gazes rapidly scanned cold and hot lines across the assembled faces around them as if daring questions before they both used _shunpo_ to make their way to opposite corners of the training room. Their tones had made it clear they expected privacy, even from their two new monitors.

Urahara, Yoruichi, and Byakuya said nothing, having weighed the seriousness of their intents from the sudden shift in their _reiatsu_. The three teenagers exchanged glances with one another and the high-ranking Shinigami, both present and former. Renji rubbed at the back of his neck at the sudden change in mood of the two, saying "So, this kind of thing happens a lot now, huh?" He was met with nods from the teens and stares from Urahara and Yoruichi.

"Have you seen this before?" Chad asked his one-time sparing partner.

"Too scary to talk about," Renji said idly, recalling Ichigo's threat the week prior in Soul Society. A silence followed.

Urahara spoke up first "Well, while they do their own thing, perhaps you two would be willing to assist us in training?"

"Ah, I will, even if the _taichō_ would prefer to take his leave," Renji offered; anything to escape the sudden oppressive feeling in the atmosphere.

"I will do so as well," Byakuya said calmly, drawing looks of surprise. He was looking at the corner that Rukia had gone to, and looked back at the assembled group with what could almost have been called the smallest of smiles.

* * *

Arriving at a secluded corner, Rukia came to a stop and centered herself, focusing. She put everything else out of mind and withdrew her _zanpakutō_. " _Mae_ , Sode no Shirayuki," she declared. The ordinary katana transformed with a rush of cold air into a stunningly beautiful all-white one with a long white streamer coming from its pommel.

She focused upon it intently and her efforts were soon rewarded. With a sudden chill, the manifestation of Sode no Shirayuki appeared behind her.

They said nothing to one another for awhile. Sode no Shirayuki spoke first: "Nothing has changed, Rukia. I—"

"Everything has changed!" Rukia said with a force that made Sode no Shirayuki's eyes widen. The Shinigami turned to face her with an expression that could freeze a volcano, and within her eyes was a still yet far colder determination. She raised the _zanpakutō_ and drew it into a ready stance with both hands, holding it against the manifestation. Even in the artificial sunlight it gleamed with sinister purpose that reflected its wielder's intent. "Everything," Rukia reiterated as her eyes narrowed down to icy judgmental slits.

Sode no Shirayuki could only stare at the rising tide of _reiatsu_ that radiated off her wielder's soul. It was as chill and murderous as the depths of interstellar space.

"We've had an agreement, Shirayuki, to be civil toward one another, to talk our way through things together like reasonable people," Rukia said harshly. She tilted the sword to a final cutting position, "But now, I'm afraid I have to be rather unreasonable. There is a man I love, and to stand beside him I need something you have. You know all of this, and still you stand in my way. So I will only ask you one time: tell me what I want to know."

At this, Sode no Shirayuki's brows knitted together as she narrowed her eyes.

* * *

Ichigo arrived at one corner of the training room, drawing Zangetsu out from over his shoulder and plunging the tip down into the ground in front of him. He grasped its grip with both hands, focusing inwardly. He allowed himself to finally look at the problem that had rankled in his mind the other day.

Hollows, Shinigami, and Quincy were all derived from humans in some way. A Hollow was the exact opposite of a Quincy. A Shinigami was orthogonal to both, and likewise distinct from a human. The aspects of a Hollow and Shinigami could merge, as revealed by both Visored and Arrancar, which approached the matter from two different directions, but a Hollow and Quincy could not. The situation his mother and father had been forced into was proof of all of this.

Ichigo, as a Visored, even if a differently generated one, had a Hollow within his conscience. He had reckoned that as being distinct from Zangetsu. But it was the Hollow that had always claimed to be Zangetsu. It would be the Shinigami component of his soul that had fused with the Hollow. That meant that what he had so long addressed as Zangetsu must in actuality be…

 **So you finally figured it out** , a voice said, and he opened his eyes to find himself sideways on a skyscraper in his inner world. Before him stood both the "Hollow" and "Zangetsu," the former regarding him with a smile and the latter looking upon him passively. " **I was beginning to think it would take divine intervention,** " the inverted reflection of him said, smirking " **But not only did you finally figure out who we are, you figured out what we mean.** " At this he started to slowly and ironically clap.

"Your assumptions are correct, Ichigo," the man in black rumbled.

"So you," Ichigo said pointing at the one in black, "are the manifestation of my Quincy powers, and you," he pointed at the one in white, "are the manifestation of my merged Hollow and Shinigami powers. You're Zangetsu."

" **Good job, King, thumbs up,** " the newly recognized Zangetsu said sarcastically.

"So," Ichigo said, looking coldly at the man in black, "Are you supposed to be Yhwach?"

"Yes and no," the man replied, earning a severe scowl, "All Quincy powers derive from Yhwach. In this sense I am him, but not in a way that you would recognize meaningfully as such."

"Why?" was all Ichigo asked of him.

"To keep you from a life of harm, and to keep you from dying at 'my' hands," the man-who-was-and-wasn't-Yhwach said. "But I have watched you grow in the face of adversity. I have watched you chase after your fate no matter the heartache it brings you, in the name of your fellow man, your friends, your family, yourself…and your love. I have watched you fall in love with a Shinigami, as did your mother before you. I have watched you become a man. I have become tired of resisting you, even as I have grown enormously proud of you. I cannot express to you in words the joy of that. Now, I want nothing more than to help you. Ichigo, what you've been wielding until now has been only a fraction of your power, the fraction I was unable to suppress. The time has finally come for you to fight with your own true power..."

" **You figured the other part out too, eh, King? That we…ain't real?** " Zangetsu said with a sinister smile, lifting his eyebrows suggestively.

"Yeah," Ichigo said. _Even every zanpakutō begins as an asauchi_ , the guy had said, _What is really being discussed is, of course your killing intent_. Nightmare Eclipse had known, and Ichigo had instinctively put the smallest of hints they had offered him together with his experiences. A _zanpakutō_ wasn't really a separate entity from its wielder, it was the wielder's killing intent given physical and mental form through an _asauchi_. Ichigo didn't know of reification, or _verdinglichung_ as a Quincy might've called it, but if he had he would've seen the immediate application.

The one who had been encouraging him to give in to his baser instincts and kill indiscriminately the whole time had been him. He had always only ever been fighting himself. He had always only ever been fighting to determine the kind of man he would be.

" **Who woulda thought all it took was some guy talking before a shooting lesson, huh, King?** " Zangetsu continued, his mouth contorting into a smug grin as he added " **And winning the Queen's heart.** "

Both new Zangetsu and old Zangetsu were now both dissolving before his very eyes, and disappeared then, a burning sword appearing between where they'd been standing.

" **Take it; it's yours,** " they said together, " **This is your real** _ **zanpakutō**_ **... This is the real Zangetsu.** "

Ichigo walked forward and reached for the sword that smoldered in the flames…

* * *

On either side of the training arena two tremendous pillars of _reiatsu_ suddenly roared into life. One was black and radiated an otherworldly heat, and one was white and radiated an unfathomable cold. They expanded and swirled, feeding on one another remotely, and the teenagers and Shinigami both past and present stared in awe as the world shook beneath the rise of a black sun and white moon.


	21. 2-11: Seven Student Army

**A/N:** **Thank you for any and all** **reviews, favorites, and follows, as well as all you other readers out there!**

 ** _Bleach_ and all products thereof are copyright to Tite Kubo, et al.**

* * *

 **Sunday, February 23, 2003**

In truth, cold doesn't radiate like heat. Heat will necessarily flow from hotter to colder regions as it seeks to achieve thermal equilibrium. Cold draws heat in. The importance of this distinction became evident within the Urahara Shop training room as an unstoppable wind began to rage from the black sun's _reiatsu_ pillar toward the white moon's, dragging everything that wasn't secured along with it. The former blazed outward, while the latter churned inward. The temperature differential made them feed on one another and grow monstrously.

The three humans found themselves forced to the ground by the intense air flow around them, and even the current and former Shinigami braced against it. Tessai quickly erected a _kidō_ barrier around them, and they stood in awe beneath harsh black and white lighting that cast odd shadows about them. Boulders broke against the barrier as they went by like confetti in the wind. It looked like a plausible way for the world to end.

"This is bad," Ishida muttered. At the current rate the training room wouldn't hold up for much longer.

Everyone else said nothing, different expressions telling their own thoughts. Byakuya, Urahara, and Tessai were all inscrutable. Yoruichi seemed vaguely amused. Renji looked impressed. Chad and Inoue looked stoic.

As quickly as it had begun, it stopped. The pillars dropped as if under their own weight into the vast spirals of debris they had thrown up, and the entire training room was filled with enormous plumes of dust that made it impossible to see. Minutes seemed to pass as the dust drifted in sheets and began to settle. It was then that on either side of them they caught sight of two figures advancing.

Rukia had Sode no Shirayuki in its _shikai_ release state upon her left hip. She had her right hand on its hilt and her head down slightly against the remaining wind. There was a brilliant white scarf loosely draped about her neck that complimented her _tekkō_ , but otherwise nothing different about her _shihakushō_.

Ichigo marched with his hands clenched into fists. His head was likewise down against the wind. He had X-shaped white straps across his chest that fed into a pauldron on his left shoulder, and some sort of white cloak tied around his waist. He seemingly had neither a _zanpakutō_ nor even a scabbard for one.

The dust finally settled just as both figures arrived at the edges of the barrier, and Tessai dropped it without a word. The assembled group looked from one to the other. Ichigo and Rukia just looked at each other and smiled, ignoring the others.

"You seem to be missing something, Ichigo," Rukia said in a teasing voice.

"Yeah," Ichigo replied in a knowing way, before turning his glance to Urahara, saying "Urahara- _san_ , do you have a spare _asauchi_?"

Byakuya raised an eyebrow at this, while Renji's eyes narrowed. Their friends stood in confusion, never having heard of such a thing before.

Urahara glanced at Yoruichi with a modestly pleading look.

"Hmph, fine, I'll get one," she said, disappearing. She returned only a moment later in front of Ichigo, cradling one and holding it out to him.

He took it from her, considering it for a moment in the artificial sunlight. Yoruichi made her way back to the group at the same time as Rukia made her way through it, ignoring everyone including Byakuya as she walked up in front of Ichigo.

"I like your scarf," he said idly as he continued inspecting the _asauchi_.

"I told you flattery would get you nowhere, fool," she said quietly. She had a small smile as she considered him.

"You sure you don't want to be with them when this happens?" he asked, meeting her look.

Her smile widened, "You know better than to worry about me like that that."

Ichigo nodded and looked at the _asauchi_ again, saying, "Sorry, this is going to be a lot faster than you were expecting." He stabbed it point-down into the ground, shouting "You're probably gonna want to put that barrier back up!"

He tilted his hands downward and grasped the _asauchi_ by the grip with both hands, as if he was wielding it. Rukia took hold of both his wrists then and said "For good luck," while looking down at the sword. In the background he could see the barrier come back up and looked at Rukia, before looking down at the sword. He mentally took the idea of Zangetsu that had been left in his soul and he put it into the _asauchi_ that was in his hands, along with all the _reiryoku_ he could bring to bear.

Rukia felt the power flow by and didn't deliberately contribute anything, even as she knew something of her own might go along anyway. _After all, since the very start, we have both been…_

Everything flashed to white.

This time, rather than a pillar, it was more like an explosion, and the surface of the barrier cracked in response to the rush of _reiatsu_. Like that, the flash passed by, and Rukia and Ichigo were standing where they had been as if nothing had happened at all. Rukia let go of Ichigo's wrists and moved out of his way, and everyone else could see that where before there had been a rather plain katana, there was now something rather different.

Ichigo brought his hands apart then, revealing it was actually two rather different things, both all-black in color, one in either hand. In his right was a sword the size of the old _shikai_ state of Zangetsu, but rather than a cleaver it more resembled a hiltless khyber knife with an odd slot in the blade and a strange slotted hilt. In his left was a short sword that resembled a trench knife, with the front of the grip enclosed. They were, in his mind, representative of the new and old Zangetsu, respectively. He slid the former into place on his back and the latter into place on his right hip.

He couldn't hear or feel either of them within his inner world now, but that was to be expected. He would now fight alone. His eyes slid over to Rukia then. She had a smile and hooded eyes that conveyed nothing but being proud of him. _No, not alone…_ He smiled back at her, and for a moment it was like they were only the two people present.

It was then that they heard clapping. Looking up, Ichigo and Rukia could see that it was only Urahara, but he was almost immediately joined by Yoruichi and Tessai. Renji and even Byakuya started shortly thereafter, and his friends joined in then as much in confusion as in anything else. Rukia laughed shortly and turned back to him, joining in with the applause.

Ishida was about to ask why they were all clapping when Urahara took off his hat and smiled, saying "So, Kurosaki- _san_ , how does it feel to finally be a real Shinigami?" Ichigo and Rukia's friends' eyes went wide with surprise at this and they fell silent.

"Probably about as good as having finally achieved _bankai_ ," Ichigo said, looking to Rukia. He began to clap for her in turn. This time it was Byakuya who joined along first, followed immediately by everyone else. Rukia blushed just a shade and gave him a stop-you're-embarrassing-me look but he continued for awhile.

At last Ichigo walked up alongside Rukia and paused for a moment before continuing on with her by his side. They came back up to the group, stopping opposite them, and looked at one another. Something transited between them that resulted in small, self-satisfied smiles. With that they both simultaneously came to attention and each snapped off a crisp salute to the assembled group, proclaiming "Combined Task Force Raven One reports for training!"

Everyone else stared, while Urahara put his hat back on and smiled from underneath it, saying only "How exciting! But perhaps we should take a short break."

At this it was like a seal was released, and the three teenagers and Renji went up their friends, congratulating them by means of handshakes and hugs and clasped shoulders even as they assaulted them with a thousand questions about what, exactly, had just transpired and what it all meant.

It was a minute into this chaos that Rukia heard Byakuya call her name. He was standing off to one side by himself. Rukia immediately excused herself and made her way over to him. Ichigo watched her go for a second before continuing on, knowing she would be alright.

She came to a stop in front of him, looking up at him resolutely "Yes, _nii-sama_?"

Byakuya said nothing at first and looked at her closely, looking directly into her eyes, evaluating. He then shifted his gaze to Ichigo as he talked with his friends, before looking at her again. He selected his words with even more care than usual before speaking: "Whatever your reasons for seeking strength, know that it is you who has chosen to become strong. Never forget that. Your _reiatsu_ has been evident to all in attendance and no one, least of all I, can deny that you have become truly formidable, Rukia."

Rukia's eyes widened before she turned her head to one side to hide her surprise. She stood completely still even as her heart soared as his acknowledgement.

Byakuya briefly looked to Ichigo again, before adding "Do not let me delay you from celebrating with your friends and your…partner, Rukia," before taking his leave, going to Urahara, Yoruichi, and Tessai. Rukia stood for another moment in thought before going back to the other group.

"What did Urahara- _san_ mean by 'a real Shinigami'?" Inoue was asking.

Renji suddenly put Ichigo in a friendly headlock "This guy right here hasn't been using a real _zanpakutō_ this entire time! Can you believe that?"

Ichigo managed to get his head free from Renji's arm and lightly shoved him away, saying "It's kinda complicated really… Now's probably not quite the right time to get into it."

"We'd be standing here for hours while he tried to explain," Rukia added with exasperation, coming back up alongside the newly minted Shinigami.

"Oh, like you're one to talk, 'look at me unlock _bankai_ in minutes after however long' Kuchiki- _dono_ ," Ichigo said, turning to face her with an expression that betrayed the teasing, "What, did you finally beat Shirayuki at a match of Go? Did she lose a bet?"

"That's not how it works," Rukia huffed as she lifted a finger to point at him.

They realized that everybody else had fallen silent and all of them were looking at them with slightly smug expressions. "What?" they both asked.

"We're just happy for you," Renji said, lifting his eyebrows slightly. Chad nodded and cracked a small smile. Inoue gave a genuine smile. Ishida let his smirk become fully superior.

Just as Raven and One opened their mouths to voice their displeasure at this display, a familiar voice cried out "What the hell is going on down here?!" from the base of the ladder.

Turning to look, Ichigo and Rukia saw Tatsuki, with Keigo and Mizuiro clambering down behind her. She appeared to be genuinely confused and angry. The presence of the three had been all-but invisible given the _reiatsu_ signatures that were already present in the training room.

"Tatsuki- _chan!_ " Inoue called out, waving. Tatsuki immediately began to jog her way over to their group wearing what was clearly, even from such a distance, a determined expression.

In the other group, Urahara scratched the back of his head and muttered something about how his jammer must have failed under the strain of the earlier _reiatsu_ emissions, earning him a swat from Yoruichi.

Tatsuki made her way straight up to Ichigo and grabbed him by his _hakama_ , growling "Are you trying to shake the whole goddamn town apart?!" She seemed about to continue on when she found Rukia's hand around her wrist, soon likewise joined by Inoue's, Ishida's, and Chad's going up her arm to the elbow. Renji stood back, discerning this wasn't his fight. She looked at all of her friends as much in irritation as in shock and confusion. They looked back with expressions that made it clear they wouldn't accept anything violent.

Ichigo looked at her guiltily before he raised his own arm up and brought it down onto the assembly, lightly breaking everyone else's grip. "It's alright, if what happened down here leaked out, it must've been pretty concerning. Besides," he remembered how angry she had been with him when Inoue had been kidnapped and her words to him then, "we owe you an explanation for what's going on."

Tatsuki regarded him severely but upon meeting his gaze she exhaled and crossed her arms in grudging acceptance, right as Keigo and Mizuiro ran up.

Ichigo looked to Rukia then, saying "You can tell this story better."

"Don't suddenly push the work onto me!" she protested.

"You're the one who's given official reports on it twice and explained it before!" he exclaimed.

Rukia frowned and stared him down before turning to the three newly arrived teenagers. His deference to her abilities was in its own way his form of a compliment, exasperating though it may have been. "Okay, fine, but I'm only going through this once, so pay attention!" she declared, holding up a finger. She glanced at Keigo and Mizuiro before looking square at Tatsuki. "Ichigo is an idiot and now works for some people who powered him back up. These people are interested in working with Soul Society for reasons. They both agreed to make me and Ichigo a special mission force as a proof of concept of the idea. We've been tasked with getting stronger in pursuit of our actual objectives. That's what you've been feeling. Questions?" she finished briefly.

"Is that why the two of you have been acting so—" Keigo began before he was knocked over by Ichigo pegging him in the chest with a rock.

"What people? Mizuiro asked.

"I cannot possibly tell you such a thing," Rukia said adamantly, crossing her arms over her chest, even as she stared directly at the badge that was still strapped to Ichigo's _hakama_ in spite of his outfit change.

Catching her drift, all three looked at it, their eyes widening at the obvious implications.

Renji had been idly following the conversation and looked at the badge for not the first time, finding it still made no more sense to him than it had the past few times he'd looked at it. "What's the story with that anyway?" he suddenly asked.

"'U.S.' stands for 'United States'," Ishida interjected.

"Eh?" Renji asked, still not getting it.

"America," Chad added.

Renji thought hard about this for a second before sort-of making the connection "Oh, I see! Is that supposed to be a big deal?" He knew even less about the rest of the layout of the Living World than Rukia previously had.

"Ichigo, you joined G.I. Joe?" Keigo said incredulously after regaining his composure, earning confused looks from everyone else. "Come on, no one?!" he continued.

"Why?" Tatsuki asked plainly.

Ichigo looked at her then and let a slightly wistful smile onto his face before he said "You know why."

Tatsuki stared at him for awhile, before looking to Rukia. She then looked to everyone else in the group, and then at the other group, which appeared to be idly conversing about something or other.

"I see," Tatsuki said at last, "And the rest of you decided to get stronger with them too, huh?"

"That's right, Tatsuki- _chan_ ," Inoue led off.

Ishida and Chad both followed with "Yes."

"And you guys are here to watch?" Tatsuki asked Renji, before her eyes flickered to Byakuya in the distance.

Renji gave a shrug and small nod of acknowledgement.

Tatsuki's eyes came back to rest on the badge on Ichigo's shoulder for a moment, before she looked at him. "It's really that serious, huh?"

Ichigo held her stare equally without saying anything further.

"Let us help," Mizuiro said.

"Absolutely not—" Rukia began to say.

"You think you're the only one who's felt powerless?" Tatsuki demanded, her gaze hardening at Ichigo. "We were all there for that over a year ago! We couldn't do a damn thing except run and wait for you to arrive! You think we don't know how it feels? You always take everything upon yourself! What happens when you're not here or when you're too late? Not just him, all of you! You think we don't see you run out of class in shifts? And you," she said pointing at Renji, "what are we supposed to do when someday your cavalry never arrives?!"

Keigo and Mizuiro said nothing, but their stares made it known that they agreed with Tatsuki.

Rukia looked at the young woman in sudden recognition. Tatsuki's particular frustrations with Ichigo now reminded her very much of her own the other day.

"Tatsuki- _chan_ ," Inoue said, stepping forward. She remembered Urahara trying to remove her from the war effort against Aizen.

Ishida found himself recalling how the Shinigami had never arrived in time to defend his grandfather—had deliberately not done so.

Chad reflected on when Ichigo had taken over the fight against Arrancar 16, Di Roy Rinker.

A thousand things went through Ichigo's mind then. He began to truly understand the universal compulsion to defend oneself against the unknown that was embodied in groups like the Quincy, or Nightmare Eclipse, or even the Shinigami. He began to wonder at the damage that was truly caused by things 'that slipped through the cracks' worldwide and what it meant that these were viewed as acceptable losses. He began to wonder if Nightmare Eclipse had anticipated this too. _You're what we call a 'force multiplier'..._ He began to wonder if they were really okay with using what were in many countries child soldiers, even if they were almost of military age and even if they were volunteers. He began to wonder if they could actually be afforded any of those distinctions given everything that had happened to them. A blade of clarity suddenly cut through this haze of questions. "Okay," he said plainly.

All his friends blinked, looking to him in surprise. Rukia and Renji both looked at him with appraising glances.

"There's really not much difference between the three of you now and where Chad and Inoue were when we went to Soul Society for the first time, or where I was when I met Rukia. Only Ishida has been at this since he was a kid," Ichigo continued on. "I can't promise they'll agree to train you," he said while jerking his head to the other group, "but we can at least try and get you to a position where you can defend yourselves." He looked Tatsuki directly in the eyes as he said "We owe you that much."

Tatsuki was astonished by this, and it told in her face. It was incredible how different this Ichigo was from the one she had demanded answers from less than two years earlier. How different he was from even the one that had moped about two weeks ago.

Before she could say anything, Ichigo had already turned and was walking away toward the other group, saying "Hey, Urahara- _san_ , Yoruichi- _san_ , we need to talk for a moment." Rukia followed along with him to support him against whatever counterarguments they might raise.

The two in question turned their heads from Tessai and Byakuya and made their way over to meet with Ichigo and Rukia.

* * *

Yoruichi used Ichigo's momentum against him, punishing him with a moderate chop to the spine as he went sailing by before blocking one of Rukia's kicks with an arm, lightly punching her aside. "Again!" she declared. Raven and One rose and launched an attack once more.

In the distance, Renji worked with Chad, Byakuya with Ishida, and Tessai with Inoue. Urahara was further off still, instructing Tatsuki, Keigo, and Mizuiro in the very basics.

Ichigo was this time kicked aside while Rukia was tripped and sent flying. "Don't think I'm gonna forgive the two of you for making me do this alone again," Yoruichi said sternly. She wasn't really mad, but she'd never let them know it.

* * *

 **A/N: Technically Rukia doesn't have a different _shikai_ outfit, but I figure she deserves at least a conservative one after achieving _bankai_ given all the outfits Ichigo gets.**

 **In the main narrative, when Ōetsu Nimaiya reforges Zangetsu using an _asauchi_ and Ichigo's soul, it's broken. Since it hasn't been broken here I'm going to handwave that given his growth rate and advanced understanding, Ichigo can basically "inject" the "blueprint" of Zangetsu into an _asauchi_ and circumvent both reforging or the long process of acclimating it.**

 **I'm not taking the Karakura-Raizer Team as canon.**


	22. 2-12: It's Time To Begin

**A/N:** **Thank you for any and all** **reviews, favorites, and follows, as well as all you other readers out there!**

 _ **Bleach**_ **and all products thereof are copyright to Tite Kubo, et al.**

* * *

 **Sunday, February 23, 2003**

"Oi, Ishida, what time is it?" Ichigo shouted, before taking another swipe at Yoruichi. He was rewarded by being kicked backwards by her.

"Kinda busy here, Kurosaki!" Ishida shouted back. He was practicing his shot rate and accuracy against Senbonzakura's _shikai_ form.

"It's 5:43 PM, Kurosaki- _kun_!" Inoue yelled.

Ichigo hauled himself to his feet and made a T-shape with his hands, saying "Okay, looks like we're done."

Rukia blinked and stopped in mid-stride toward Yoruichi, saying "Eh?" only to be pushed over like a sack of potatoes by the latter.

"You can't just stop in the middle of training!" the Flash Goddess proclaimed.

"Yoruichi- _san_ , we've been at it for like, seven hours, weren't you the one complaining yesterday about five?" Ichigo said with some exasperation.

"What're you trying to say?" Yoruichi said, suddenly up in his face.

"N—Nothing, it's just we have to go to dinner—" Ichigo began.

"—Ohhh, did the two of you schedule a—" Yoruichi began to taunt, before Rukia was suddenly on her back. Rukia's hands instantly clamped over her mouth.

"—with my family," Ichigo concluded.

Yoruichi struck an elbow back and behind her mildly into a pressure point in Rukia's side, causing her to lose her grip and fall off. "…Well in that case fine, I guess. Go on, get out of here!"

Ichigo helped Rukia up. They'd told Byakuya and Renji on their way over to the shop in the morning and had extended an invitation to them, but Byakuya had declined for both of them. It didn't fall under their mission parameters to insert themselves into _everything_ the two did. There had been something else in his tone but Ichigo hadn't quite parceled it out. Rukia knew that it was him letting her assert her independence. They said their goodbyes for the evening to their friends and colleagues and made their way back upstairs and into corporeal form, taking their leave.

"You know, we really probably should start using Soul Candy while we're here so our bodies don't just sit idle," Rukia offered once they were around the corner. She confidently took one of Ichigo's hands in hers.

"No way," Ichigo said, not remarking the contact except to lightly squeeze, "I'm not getting stuck with Chappy or something in my body. Kon was bad enough."

"Don't be a fool, Ichigo," Rukia said professorially, "I would have Chappy. You would have…Gringo, or something."

"What the hell is a Gringo?" Ichigo asked, not sure he wanted to know the answer.

"He's kind of like a gangster panda," Rukia said, tapping at her chin as she tried to explain it.

"Absolutely not!" Ichigo replied, before looking at her sideways "Besides…"

Rukia turned to look at him expectantly "Hmm?"

He squeezed her hand again "You know this is partially chemical, right?"

Rukia raised an eyebrow at him.

"Feelings," Ichigo said, not really wanting to get too sappy.

She maintained the look.

"Anyway," Ichigo said, getting annoyed at her lack of knowledge and covering for it by rubbing the back of his head, "I don't want to stumble in on two _gikon_ cuddling in our bodies or something."

Rukia's expression became amused as she said "Why, does the idea make you jealous?"

"No, it'd just be weird!" Ichigo huffed, before a thought that had been itching at the back of his mind since the topic had been broached finally made it through: "Hey, whatever happened to Kon anyway?" He hadn't seen him since he'd left for Hueco Mundo.

"I…have absolutely no idea," Rukia said. She looked genuinely perplexed.

Ichigo chuckled as it became clear to him that she hadn't thought about Kon once since the fight with Aizen, and after catching his meaning she started to laugh along with him. It wasn't entirely fair to Kon, but he always had been something of a pain in the ass. They both figured that wherever he was, he was probably fine.

* * *

"Rukia- _nee_ , how do you like the spaghetti?" Yuzu asked cheerily.

"Ah, I've never had anything like this before, it's really good," Rukia said with a smile.

Ichigo leaned over and casually wiped her mouth with a napkin. She hadn't quite got the hang of dealing with pasta sauce on noodles yet, but had somehow managed to not get any on her clothes. She responded by poking him in the cheek with her fork.

"Careful with that, you could put my eye out!" he said to reprimand her.

"Ichigo, I went and talked with that Unagiya woman like you asked," Karin piped up, before glancing at Rukia for a moment and exhaling. "I'll take the case," she said at last with a cool air.

"Karin- _chan_ , why did Ichi- _nii_ ask for you to talk to an eel-specialist woman?" Yuzu asked.

"And when did you become a noir detective?" Isshin said with a comical face.

"Unagiya, not _unagi-ya_ ," Karin said testily, before pointing a fork at her dad "and don't you start!"

"I always told her that she should change the name of the store," Ichigo said with mock resignation.

"So, Karin- _chan_ ," Rukia began in a transparently conspiratorial way, "is Ichigo's former boss as scary as he makes her sound? Has she told you any good gossip about him?"

"She seemed pretty normal to me," Karin said, considering "The only thing she asked that was kind of weird is if I knew how long you two had known one another."

"Eh?" both Ichigo and Rukia replied. Neither noticed Isshin smirking or his obvious expression of this-is-gonna-be-good.

Karin shrugged "When I told her it was about two years she just laughed and said it had looked more like twenty."

The pair both blushed subtly and when Isshin started laughing it was Ichigo who kicked him hard in the shin, only to himself be kicked in the shin by Rukia for drawing attention to the matter.

* * *

They held hands again once they were a block away from the Kurosaki household and stopped a block from home, going more or less wordlessly in contentment with one another. Rukia had left her key with Byakuya, and when they entered the house both he and Renji were sitting on the couch watching what very much looked like a rerun of _Iron Chef_.

"No way—" Renji was in the middle of saying.

"Do not despair so, Renji," Byakuya rejoined with cool confidence, "This Nakagawa is one thousand years too early to defeat Sakai- _san_ in a battle of lamb."

Ichigo found he could only sweatdrop. Rukia looked amazed that they had found something they enjoyed.

"Ah, you two are back," Renji said as he looked away for a moment, "How was dinner?"

"Yuzu- _chan_ fixed spaghetti for everyone, it was really tasty!" Rukia beamed.

Renji's stomach audibly growled and he sank into the couch, only reluctantly turning his eyes back to the TV.

"We could fix you something, you know," Ichigo said as he walked by the couch toward his room.

"That is a very courteous offer as a host, Kurosaki, however, we have both already eaten," Byakuya replied.

Renji muttered something that was inaudible.

Ichigo shook his head mildly as he retrieved a planner, going back out to the dining room. "Hey, Rukia, let's review what we did Friday and plan for the week, yeah?"

She was leaning against the couch watching the show, and nodded before joining him at the dinner table. They spent the next 30 minutes going back over school material for the week ahead and blocking out their training time. There was no way around it: they had to practice marksmanship far more in addition to their discipline and bearing drills, and so Byakuya and Renji would inevitably learn about both downstairs and their various outfits.

"You know we said we weren't going to tell anybody about that," Rukia quietly reminded him.

"I don't think we have a choice, and if we can't trust your brother and Renji, then who can we trust?" Ichigo replied.

Rukia couldn't disagree, and they quietly decided it would just be best to get on with it rather than trying to hide it. Putting the work aside at last, they both yawned and made their way to the couch. They sat beside one another off to one side. Byakuya and Renji had taken the prime spots. The 6th Division's fascination with Iron Chef had continued into a second episode.

"Battle Crayfish," Renji helpfully informed them.

"You know, you could organize something like this at the Seireitei," Ichigo mused aloud. This seemed to put both the active Shinigami deep into thought for a moment. He found himself suddenly regretting suggesting it as he imagined Byakuya in the role of Chairman Kaga declaring 'Allez cuisine'.

Rukia by now also seemed to be enthralled by the program.

Ichigo whispered to her "Is this like catnip for Shinigami or something?"

She shushed him, and so as he didn't find it _that_ engaging, he went on imagining their version of it. He didn't get very far as he couldn't think of who would play the commentary crew.

Having failed, he watched along with them until the end of the episode. Sakai won again, earning looks of approval from the Shinigami around him. He himself let out a small and apathetic cheer for what was clearly already the home team and stood up, saying: "Well, I think I'm gonna head to bed, we gotta be up early tomorrow. I'll set up your futon, Renji. Don't stay up too late watching duels."

They all nodded absent-mindedly as a third episode began, and so he went and retrieved a bundled up futon from the laundry room's linens area and going to his room. He closed the door but didn't shut it, and set the futon up on the floor before grabbing some sleeping clothes and going to shower. Renji was still nowhere to be found by the time he finished brushing his teeth and had crashed into his bed. Right as he started thinking about their schedule again he passed out.

* * *

 **Monday, February 24, 2003**

"Oi, Renji, have you already messed with the administration's heads about being a student or do you have to do that first thing?" Ichigo said across Rukia as they walked to school. They had umbrellas up against a light rain, and Rukia was under his while Renji had his own.

Renji was already in a school uniform like they were and seemed to have to think about the question. Neither of them had commented on how ridiculous he looked in the winter sweater. "Yeah, I guess I'm probably gonna have to do something like that," he said after awhile.

"Prepared as usual," Rukia added on.

"Hey, give me a break, it was a Sunday and it's just a week-long mission," Renji said.

"Oi, Renji," Ichigo said again, "you know you're gonna see some weird stuff this week, right?"

"You mean, weirder than you owning a nice house and becoming a real Shinigami?" Renji shot back.

"Yeah," Ichigo said, taking Rukia's hand in his free one, drawing her a little closer. She blinked over to him and blushed slightly at his sudden forthrightness in front of others.

If Renji noticed he didn't say anything.

"Ichigo," Rukia harshly whispered at him.

"Renji is many things but blind isn't one of them—" Ichigo began as if he wasn't there.

"—I'm not deaf either you know!—" Renji interrupted indignantly.

"—And he already knows, and he's not gonna tell Byakuya both because he's a good friend like that and he knows we'd murder him," Ichigo continued, "so while your brother is here school is the only time we're gonna be able to do things like this."

Rukia squeezed his hand even as she said "Hmph, you can't trick me, fool, you just want to show off in front of everyone else."

Ichigo seemed to ponder this theatrically before saying "Well, my favorite Shakespeare comedy always has been _The Taming of the Shrew_ …"

"You keep mentioning this Shakespeare guy," Rukia said as she pointed at him, "and what's that supposed to mean anyway?"

"Nothing," Ichigo said, letting the point go. He didn't want to limp for the rest of the day. "Besides, it cuts both ways," he continued, "You could just as easily be the girl who conquered my infamous scowl. Don't act like the idea doesn't amuse you."

"Would you two prefer I took a different route?" Renji asked.

"Shut up!" they both said as they turned to him.

Renji just smirked back. He didn't really mind: it was funny to watch them bicker and it made them even easier to tease. Seeing them both happy was also in some ways its own reward.

It ultimately turned out his reaction wasn't remotely the one they found most bothersome. Renji split from them to go 'convince' administration of his student status, and as they continued through the halls they drew an increasing crowd. Ichigo's reputation was sufficient that by the time they had made it to class there were students practically lining up behind them and in the halls to stare.

What had begun as irritation for Ichigo and Rukia rapidly provoked both of them to only reinforce their own respective virtues, and so by the time they reached their classroom they were once again a glittering image-in-motion of cool and chic. They may as well have waltzed into the room for the dropped jaws they produced after shutting the door. Only Chad, Ishida, and Inoue, having more or less observed the course of events to-date, seemed unsurprised.

As they at last reached their desks and parted hands to sit down and pull out their work for the day—they had decided to continue with English all week—a pin could've been heard falling.

"Ichigooo—" Keigo began in congratulations, tears streaming down his face, only for Tatsuki to punch him out on their behalf.

Ishida, remembering the previous day, pushed his glasses up in a precise way before starting to politely applaud. Inoue gave him a mildly disappointed look before smiling and joining in just the same, and was rapidly joined by Chad. Within short order the entire room was clapping for them and smiling while they ignored it and did work. This was the situation when Misato Ochi, one of their teachers, walked into the room in confusion.

Classes went by unremarkably, the occasional odd glances and Renji's late entrance aside.

Lunch began mostly as usual, their earlier elegance dissuading prying questions at first. The rain had not let up and was occasionally coming down as sleet, and so they were forced to stay inside for lunch. They opted to stick to their desks. Ichigo had gotten up a bit early to make _kuri dango_ for them for lunch as a sort of penance for what he'd known he was going to do in advance. Rukia had smiled at the surprise and they wound up practicing conversing in English as they ate.

A phalanx of Keigo, Chizuru, Michiru, Ryō, and Mahana formed up at one stage to pester them with questions but was driven off by the intimidation of Tatsuki and Renji. The rest of the day was basically uneventful.

They made their way out with similar refinement as they had entered with, it starting to become intuitive. They were greatly assisted by a rearguard action by Renji and their friends, the former of who caught up to them later.

"You were right, Ichigo, that was pretty weird," Renji said sardonically, "is it going to be like that every day?"

"You're gonna see the real weird stuff pretty soon," Ichigo promised, "school is more like our homework time."

Renji lifted an eyebrow but asked no further questions for the moment.

* * *

Ichigo let go of Rukia's hand just before home came into view and they made their way inside, leaving their umbrellas and shoes at the door. Rukia declared "We're home," to an affirmative noise from Byakuya somewhere above them. He had apparently taking a liking to their reading area. They and Renji three went to the bedrooms to change, Ichigo opting for the walk-in closet and leaving his room to Renji.

He and Rukia had moved all their utility uniforms up from downstairs to their closets the last time they'd been down there because the alternative was stripping down opposite one another in the gun room, and they both weren't at a stage of being comfortable with that and didn't find it practical either. Ichigo donned bog-standard US woodland pattern BDUs complete with a name-tag reading "Kurosaki" in blue text, a service tag reading "U.S. Air Force," and rank stripes, among other things. Even his boots had come pre-polished. He put them on for completion's sake, as they seemed to have not been used outside, and finished kitting up per his recollections of the manual.

By the time he finished, Renji had long since departed and was back out in the living room. "Hey, Ichigo, how many channels—what the hell are you wearing?" his friend asked, eyes widening at the outfit.

"Work clothes," Ichigo said, walking around the couch to go to the office.

Rukia followed shortly after in a broadly similar outfit, except there were far fewer markers besides rank insignia and her camouflage pattern was smaller and more dot-like, being Type II _flecktarn_. She earned a similar look from Renji as she made her way to the office. Renji looked confused for a minute before getting up and following them.

By the time he was there they were both sitting at their respective computers. "So uh, do you…need to wear those to use those machines or…?" Renji asked.

"These are for after," Rukia said. They had decided to review the weapon inventory before doing marksmanship today, and there was an associated video as usual. They'd found one of them opening videos opened them for both of them. The weapon inventory video was the usual with English narration and Japanese subtitles, but this one was unique for being largely animated with only some live test footage.

It began by describing what, after a bit of head-scratching, Ichigo and Rukia recognized as _reishi_ , _reiatsu_ , and _reiryoku_. In the American nomenclature they were known as theta (θ), delta (Δ), and lambda (λ) for various arcane reasons that didn't make that much sense to either of them. There was some speculation that _reishi_ was a form of interactive dark matter particle akin to baryonic matter, although the theories didn't quite match the evidence. None of this made any sense to them. At any rate, modern science wasn't sure exactly what it was, simply that it existed.

This had been more than good enough for the US military. They had categorized all of their spiritual weapons as being energy weapons of some kind or another. The projectile weapons, which comprised the overwhelming bulk of their gear, came in several categories.

The first kind of weapon was called a conversion weapon ("con-weapon"). They were the most straight-forward, although by no means the simplest. They relied upon a _kishi_ -to- _reishi_ conversion field that could transmute conventional kinetic projectiles into spirit particle equivalents that retained their velocity. This was a brute force method, but could be fitted to almost any kind of conventional weapon, resembling a combination of a large muzzle brake and a suppressor. Overall performance was far inferior to something like a Quincy's bow, but the field adaptability was great.

The next kind of weapon was called an induction weapon ("ind-weapon"). These drew in ambient environmental _reishi_ (and could be modified with _kishi_ -to- _reishi_ conversion components as the XM139 had been) before re-emitting it in an output format. They would either using the _reishi_ directly (like a Quincy _heilig pfeil_ ) or convert it into _reiryoku_ with a _kidō_ -like emission (like the XM139). Generally speaking they were cumbersome and of limited utility, although they could be enormously powerful in special warfare environments like Soul Society or Hueco Mundo where _reishi_ was abundant. An interesting offshoot of ind-weapons (and among the first battlefield spiritual projectile weapons ever developed) instead used a storage medium, much like the Quincy technique of _gintō_ , to allow non-spiritual forces ready access to ammunition. These could be recharged by troops with _reiryoku_ or via machines which collected _reishi_ or converted _kishi_ into it.

There was another kind of weapon called a transmission weapon ("trans-weapon"). These were like the M161, and absorbed _reiryoku_ from a source via the mechanism of _reiatsu_. They had basically no moving parts and could be fired for as long as the user had _reiryoku_ to draw from. They were effectively like preprogrammed, instant-use _kidō_ spells.

The final kind of weapon was simply labeled an exotic weapon ("exo-weapon"). These were miscellaneous energy weapon hybrids incorporating _kishi_ physics combined with the above categories of weapons to produce highly unusual effects. Ichigo ever-so-barely understood what any of it meant and Rukia was totally lost. The narrator talked about things like superconductivity, magnetic monopoles, antimatter-catalyzed fusion, pair production, and so on, and listed applications like shaped nuclear charges and more. Details were scarce but it was clear this enabled man-portable weapons of horrendous destructive capability that could potentially enable an otherwise normal human to go toe-to-toe with something like an Espada or _taichō_ —or worse—and win through raw killing power in the event they got off the first shot.

There were some additional subjects such as various kinds of melee weapons and explosives that were briefly detailed. The latter including things like mines, grenades, and something like a grenade-launcher, which presumably were among the things in the munitions lockers downstairs.

It wasn't covered in the video, but the picture of why governments no longer feared entities like Soul Society became clear: they vastly outgunned them in firepower and they had no pretensions to sporting behavior. They could industrially mass-produce killing power at all levels of capability, from the tactical to the strategic, and had no qualms about using it. Hitsugaya had once claimed during the war with Aizen that if there were more than ten Vasto Lordes, Soul Society would inevitably fall; the governments could field weapons equivalent to tens or hundreds of thousands of them. It was sobering. It also deepened the mystery of why they wanted—needed—Soul Society's help.

There followed a detailed breakdown of the weapons at their disposal downstairs, and afterwards various reference sheets were unlocked in the associated folder for their ease of use. They had everything but con-weapons, as they'd been issued no conventional guns, and only had extremely basic melee weapons as supplements to their _zanpakutō_. They were robustly provisioned with everything else. It was never stated what was in the apocalypse cases, but they could both guess that it was some sort of suite of exo-weapons.

They had been fitted out to fight their own personal war.

They were browsing their inventories when Renji at last said "What the hell was that?" He had very vaguely been able to follow along with the animations and had figured out the American terminology, but the rest left him confused and disturbed.

"It would seem that you now work for some very interesting people, Kurosaki," Byakuya said from the door. They all glanced at him. It was unclear how long he had been there.

"Yeah," Ichigo said simply. He turned off his computer and Rukia followed suit as they stood. He went over to the switch and double-tapped it with a boot, waiting for the column to rise before tapping in the code. "Guess we may as well show you," he added as the floor opened up.


End file.
